The Trickster of the 72nd district
by Big Bang Two
Summary: Sunny is known throughout the 72nd district as being a lighthearted trickster-but in truth, her life is not all fun and games: especially when she befriends two Shinigami captains. Komamura x OC or Ukitake x OC?
1. Prologue

Omgs. I am excited. This is a fanfic about my fave characters! Ukitake and Komamura! They are seriously underrated and incredibly awesome. Enjoy! NOT A YAOI.

I am changing my avatar to my drawing of how I envisioned Kioko/Sunny… I had fun drawing it :D u shud take a look

Prologue

"UwaaHAhaaaaaa…" Kioko half laughed, half groaned in the face of three menacing men, who had backed her into a corner, anger plain on their faces. "Oh boy." Her mind flashed back to a few minutes before, and for the umpteenth time wondered why she just could not control her words.

But… it had been too good a chance to resist. The biggest man, their leader, had looked so _fat_, sitting there on that stool on the middle of the road, and plus, he was obstructing traffic- and when people came to tell him as such, he waved them away immediately. He looked so dangerous, though, that people were reluctant to really challenge him. That alone made her furious, her irritation rising up through her body like bees. Not to mention,

"Awww…He looks like Nikki." She had said to no one in particular, just loud enough for him to hear and be interested. She smirked behind his back, the smile slow and confident. Those who knew her shook their heads and cleared out of the area. It was dangerous to be in the same area as Kioko, known as Sunny to her friends, when she was in a mood like this one.

Sure enough, he turned and around and addressed her.

"Nikki?"

Her face a blank, sarcastic mask, she spoke, as if just stating a simple fact. "My pet pig."

It wasn't a total lie- she _did_ have a pet pig named Nikki when she was younger.

Her comment got the desired reaction from the man, his face turning a bright shade of crimson in anger. His eyes got smaller, and he fumed, staring straight at Sunny, barely restraining himself.

"That's a nice color… but you're going to give yourself a heart attack if you do that much longer." she smiled sweetly.

"GRRRRAAAA!!!!" He shouted in frustration. He stood up, revealing himself to be much taller than Sunny had originally thought; and as he stood, two other men did as well, both as massive as he was. She hadn't noticed them before, and she gulped nervously. She was in trouble, and she knew it.

Sinuously as a cat, she turned, her long pink hair of which she was very proud flying behind her in a smooth curtain. She wove through the crowd easily, ducking under and jumping over objects in her way with ease. Her deliberately short black kimono, vaguely reminiscent of a shinigami's uniform, flapped as she ran low to the ground. Her pursuers were not so mindful of the crowd, however; they threw aside people and objects as if they were worth nothing. Sunny growled. The things they so carelessly tossed aside were the very lives of the people who lived here, the 72nd district of Rukongai.

But because of the straight, destructive course her hunters took, they caught up to her fairly quickly. As they drew nearer, Sunny panicked, weaving more rapidly between all the traffic on the street. But still it wasn't enough.

So now she was backed into a small corner between buildings, her three opponents looming over her monstrously. She looked around for a way out, but found nothing. Her breathing quickened. "Heh…heh…heh…" she laughed nervously.

The leader, the one she had angered, was the first to speak. "Hello…" he snarled. "What do we have here? An impudent little brat, I think…. What should we do with it?" he asked his comrades, as he threateningly touched her throat with two meaty fingers. The crowd on the street walked by, not even glancing her way. It had nothing to do with them, and they didn't want to get involved. Sunny scoffed.

"Yeah. That's right. Keep on walking." she spat at the indifferent people on the street, a comment that angered the threesome even more. Before she knew what was happening, she was pinned to the wall, hanging there like some sick kind of ornament in the man's oversized, meaty hand. He held her neck tight; Sunny gagged.

"Hmm… What_ should_ we do with it? We could kill it, I suppose… or maybe…" He looked at her closely, noticing her long legs, ample chest, and fine features. He let her neck loose, and she dropped to the ground. "I think I can find some other use for you." He chuckled maliciously, eyeing her as she struggled on the ground. He looked at his friends; they wore the same expression as him. Though, Of course, no one would object if he took first dibs on the girl. She really was quite a catch.

"What's your name?" He asked. She was silent. "I SAID-"

"Kioko."

A slow smile crept across her face. She knew exactly what she had to do to fool these three men. They were fairly simple creatures, easy to figure out: and easy to trick as well. She just had to scare them a little. And perhaps, if she played her cards right, she might be able to scare them enough to reform their habits.

"But…" She let her voice become blank and emotionless. "That is only what they call me here. I have no name. I am myself and no one else. I am not a name or a face. I am no name and no face and no mind and you-" she pointed her finger at the three men in turn, still staring at the ground. "Are like me. Or will be. Who are we to define time?" She looked up, slowly and deliberately, her dark grey eyes blank and apparently unseeing; In truth she saw everything, from he horrified look of the men to the amused looks of the people on the street who knew who she was for some reason or another. Inside, she had to fight to keep from smiling.

"I-I-I'm not like you." the man on the left protested.

"Are you?" she asked, cocking her head to one side limply, like a doll.

"N-No."

"Oh. Then you must have been before, or most likely, are still yet to be."

"N-No. No." he gasped.

_Now, _she thought, _Now for the punchline. _"But you can not be. Or not be, once again." _best to keep them a bit confused._

"H-Huh?"

"I am no name and no face and no mind because I was no heart, when I was." all three men reacted to this statement.

"No heart?" one said.

"What?" said the second.

The third didn't speak, but his eyes widened in response to her statement.

"You are no heart and no feelings. So go, and find the heart so you can be heart and feelings again."

"S-So… how do I do that?" stuttered the man who had not spoken yet.

"You must be kind to all things, and then you will be heart."

"That… that's it?" stuttered the center man.

"That is all, if that is what you mean."

With that, she slumped over, making a big show of going limp. She rested a few seconds on the ground, grinning to the dirt, and then straightened out her face into a more normal expression. She came up from the ground with all the fear she had before being 'possessed.'

The men were silently afraid of what she would be this time around as she sat back up. But as they saw on her face the expression of a scared young girl, and not some otherworldly creature, they sighed in relief. Sunny looked around with all the confusion appropriate to the moment, eyes wide and scared. The three men saw the expression and panicked, remembering the strange creature's words. Wordlessly, they opened up their ranks to let her through. As was appropriate, she darted through the opening, not looking back until she ran a good distance away. When she could see them no longer, she stopped running and put on a wide, cocky smile. Jauntily, she strutted down the road with hands clasped behind her back. She wasn't called the trickster of the 72nd district for nothing.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1! O and I almost forgot. I do not own bleach. I wish. But I don't. Hehehehehehehehe (fangirl giggle) The first of our two amazing men show up in this chapter. And btw the song mentioned in the chapter is _my_ favorite song. It rox!

Thank so much to:

OkamixInu

LupiLupus

For reviewing! U guys rock :D

Chapter One

When the sun was at its highest point in the sky, Sunny's stomach began to growl; and as usual, she started looking for a target. She had very specific qualifications for her targets- they had to look prosperous enough to be able to spare some food, and they had to look either slow or stressed enough to be easily tricked. It sounded simple, but it sometimes took her an entire afternoon to find the perfect target. She would never take from someone who didn't enough to spare; that was just cruel, she knew from being on the receiving end of such a scheme. She looked around, scanning for an appropriate person to trick out of their food.

Bingo.

Standing in the middle of the road, looking rather confused was a tall man, clothed in the long black kimono of a shinigami. Over it, he wore a long white haori, lined with deep red. His long white hair spilled over his shoulders in a smooth curtain, and a shorter portion was swept over half his face. He looked quite lost, quite frazzled, and was also holding a small bag of what was obviously food. A perfect target; even if he was a shinigami captain, he was first and foremost a bewildered, disoriented individual. She grinned widely, and then organized her face into a bright, perky expression. She giggled, shifting into the mindset of an overly enthusiastic young girl. She skipped up to the man, and set herself in front of him, hands on hips with an innocent smile on her face. The passerby sighed behind the man's back, as if to say 'Here she goes again.' but their eyes twinkled in amusement; Kioko was always good for a laugh.

"Hi!" She chirped.

"Hello…" he said timidly, his brown eyes staring nervously into her dark ones.

"I'm Kioko, but my friends call me Sunny. You look lost. Do you need help?"

"Yeah, I'm kind of lost-"

"What's your name?"

"Jushirou Ukitake-"

"What's your favorite color?"

"Green, but why-"

"Favorite flavor of ice cream?" The questions came one after the other. Ukitake was getting visibly flustered, and Sunny giggled; he really was quite entertaining.

"Vanilla-"

"What squad are you captain of?"

"T-thrirteenth, um-"

_He's stuttering. _Sunny laughed inwardly. _Just a few more questions, I think. _

"Favorite song?"

"I-I don't really have one-"

"Can I have that?" Sunny asked, pointing to the bag the man carried. He paused and considered.

_Oh no… It didn't work, _She thought. He was supposed to just be frazzled and give it to her without question. He would never give it to her now.

"Sure." he said, handing it to her.

"Wait, seriously?" she gasped.

"Sure, why not? I've got more food where I'm going, anyway."

"Rich kid," she muttered under her breath.

"Ah, no, that's not what I meant!" he exclaimed, waving his arms desperately. Sunny couldn't keep herself from laughing, he looked so ridiculous.

"Okay." she giggled.

"Well, why don't you tell me more about you now?" He said as she inspected the contents of the canvas bag, finding a large loaf of bread, a bag of cherries, and an orange. She glanced up at the man. Was he a health nut or something? But she wasn't one to complain, so she began to peel the orange as she talked.

"Well, my name really is Kioko, or Sunny, whichever you want to call me. I like the color pink, chocolate ice cream, my favorite song is Up by the Saurdays- It's a song from the real world- Um… I have a little sister, or at least, an adopted little sister named Aiko… What else do you want to know?" she turned to Ukitake.

But he wasn't listening. His breaths were coming short and shallow, and his eyes were wide in pain. He let out a wheezing cough, and as he dropped to his knees, blood spilled out from his mouth. "U-Ukitake?" she stuttered, horrified. "Ukitake?!" falling to her knees beside him, she put one hand on his back as he continued to cough and bleed.

"D-don't…worry. It'll…. pass." he gasped out between coughs.

"It'll pass? That's all you have to say?" she scoffed; he didn't reply. Passerby gathered in a circle around them, muttering worriedly.

"Give him some room to breathe!" she shouted at the crowd. Obediently, they shuffled backward. She turned back to the kneeling captain as a whirl of thoughts ran through her head.

_Why am I doing this? Why? There's no point, no gain. I could just leave him here. He'd probably be fine. There are plenty of people here who'd be willing to help this pathetic guy. But I did take his food, and I guess I can't just leave him here…_ Sighing heavily, she placed one of Ukitake's arms around her shoulders. His coughing had slowed, one coming only every few seconds. Red ran down his arms, staining his white kimono. _Eew, gross, _She thought as she rose to her feet, his weight heavy on her shoulders.

"What… are you doing?" he asked as another spasm of coughs racked his body.

"I obviously can't leave you there- you'll obstruct traffic. And you're in no shape to go to wherever you were going to go. It's a pain, but I have to take responsibility for you, you pathetic creature." she said dryly as she walked forward. The crowd let them through, a neat path forming as Ukitake stumbled forward, leaning on Sunny, who walked forward with no sign of discomfort because of her burden; however, irritation was clear on her face.

They turned off the main street, the street they were on, at the next intersection; they began to walk along smaller roads, among ramshackle houses and shacks that were barely staying together. This was where everyone lived- this was the 72nd district. Ukitake looked around, his eyes pained. His coughs were slowing once again, so Sunny knew his anguish was coming from his compassion. Still, she only felt insulted.

"You really are a rich kid." she snapped.

"No… that's not it. I used to visit with a friend, an exceptionally talented individual who didn't want to be promoted, here a lot- he grew up here. This brings back memories."

"Oh."

After a long silence, Ukitake spoke again. "Thanks, you know… for taking care of me like this. It's really nice of you. I'm sorry to be such a burden."

"Yeah, I'm amazing. You don't need to tell me that." she replied sarcastically.

" …I mean it."

She sighed. "I know. And I mean it when I say I'm awesome." she replied with an impish grin. Ukitake smiled back, amusement in his eyes.

_This guy may be an idiot, _Sunny thought, _but he's entertaining. _


	3. Chapter 2

Ok wow- OkamixInu, you are way right. Ukitake never lived in the 72nd district. hehehe… that is a very stupid mistake for a huge Ukitake fan like me… I changed that to something a bit more reasonable. For some reason I had I it in my head that he died in the real world or something. Thanks for correcting me!

Btw, yoru no futago means night twins. :)

thank you

OkamixInu (what would I do without you to correct my stupid mistakes)

LupiLupus

For reviewing again, u guys are my bffls!

llsnowbirdll- you rock as well, thanks 4 commenting!

Chapter Two

The door squeaked loudly as Sunny and Ukitake walked through it- Ukitake winced at the sound, and Sunny sighed; she had always hated that stupid door and its rusty hinges. The house itself was arranged around a short central hallway, with doors along it. At the end of the hall was an open door that led to the kitchen- as the two walked through the door, a happy cry came from inside the room, though they could not see the source of the voice.

"Sunny! You're back!" it exclaimed. A small figure came running out through the door; it was a young girl, about the equivalent of six or seven in the real world, wearing a blue kimono much too long for her. She tripped over it as she ran into Sunny, wrapping her arms around her stomach and leaning on her. Sunny gave a defeated look as her knees began to shake under the added weight.

_The world hates me._ She thought miserably, but then sighed. There was no changing the fact that she was supporting approximately two hundred twenty five pounds on her one hundred and forty pound figure; she bore with it and patted Aiko's head with her free hand, the hand that was not supporting Ukitake.

"Aiko, darling, I love you to death, but I am going to collapse in a few seconds if you don't stop leaning on me." Aiko gasped, jumping backwards immediately.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed as her long black hair fell into her wide blue eyes. Ukitake let out a hacking cough, though only a trickle of blood came from his mouth this time. Still, Sunny's face was painted with disgust, and she shuddered. She had never been good with blood.

"Oh, who's that?" Aiko asked, only now seeming to notice the large man draped over Sunny's shoulder.

"It's a shinigami captain named Jushiro Ukitake." Ukitake waved weakly, taking some of his weight off of her. He had all but stopped coughing, though the loss of blood had left him weakened. Sunny sighed in relief.

"Oh." Aiko said, completely unfazed. "That reminds me, I lit the toast on fire."

"Wait, what? How did you get lighting the toast on fire from that?" Sunny asked, baffled; then Aiko's comment hit her. "You lit food on fire _again_? Have I told you how hopeless you are recently?" She asked, exasperated. Letting go of Ukitake, she ran into the kitchen to put out the fire with the calmness of one used to such a scene. As she walked forward, Ukitake stumbled backwards, surprised by the loss of her support. Left behind leaning on the front door, Ukitake laughed quietly. The two girls were quite a combination.

After a few minutes, they emerged from the kitchen, talking heatedly.

"How do you manage to light everything on fire? Is it some strange curse or something?"

"Who knows. It could be a blessing."

"How would that be considered a blessing? You are absolutely dangerous to be around, you know. My brain hurts from trying to have a conversation with you. And you are going to burn the house down someday."

Aiko giggled, then caught sight of Ukitake. "What should we do with him?" she asked.

"I suppose it's too late to make him go home, isn't it? Plus, he'd get lost." Sunny sighed. "I suppose we have to let captain freeloader stay here for a night." she said, talking as if Ukitake wasn't there.

Ukitake sighed, taking what he could get. Even if Kioko was calling him names, at least she was letting him stay.

"You can sleep over there." Sunny pointed to a room on Ukitake's left. "There's a futon in the closet."

"Um… Thanks, Kioko." he said awkwardly.

"Yeah, yeah." she paused, considering. "Call me Sunny, captain freeloader." She said before disappearing into a room on her left and collapsing onto a messy futon. Aiko followed her, the two apparently sharing a room. Left abruptly behind in the hallway, Ukitake smiled; Sunny was quite an enigma. He slept deeply and comfortably that night, strangely content despite his unfamiliar surroundings.

Sunny, however, did not sleep as well as she would have liked.

The dream came again, the recurring dream she had been having consistently for the last few months. It started with her standing in a cloud of white smoke; then it cleared and she was standing on a slightly slanting hill with black grass beneath her feet. Dew sparkled on the grass in the light from the magnificent full moon and sparkling stars above; the sky captured her attention, and made her unable to look away. Altogether, the scene was a pleasant one; that was, until _they_ came, as they did each time.

They came together, walking over the hill hand-in-hand. They were mirror images of each other, both wearing the same long, formal kimonos in the same pale white. Their white hair hung down their backs heavily, shining in the light from the heavens. Their skin was pale as the stars above; the only part of them that was anything other than white were their narrow, ice-blue eyes that stared Sunny down intensely. Sunny, as always, was afraid of them, but was unable to run. She might be intrepid in her waking hours, but here she was nothing more than a scared child. She was rooted to where she stood, but wanted to run with all her might from those two and their unearthly paleness.

She wanted to run because they offered her a power she was afraid of.

"Kioko." they addressed her formally. When she, as usual, didn't answer, they continued, speaking together. "Only you have the power to set us free. Call our names, Kioko, and bring us into your world. We can give you power, power you want whether you know it or not. You just have to call us, and we will come."

"No… No, I don't want it…" She replied weakly, uncharacteristically inarticulate.

"Call us when you are ready, child. Call us by our name.." they said together. "Call us by our name, yoru no futago."

Then the world faded into white smoke, and Sunny found herself back in her room, Aiko's arms wrapped around her neck and in the dark more comfortable than the eerie light of the stars, unable to sleep until dawn.


	4. Chapter 3

This chapter was inspired by my reaction to caffeine in large amounts. Enjoy. Finally, we meet our other leading man.

You will not understand the very first little conversation if you haven't seen the shinigami cup golden where Ukitake is giving candy to Toshirou. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you watch it. Friggin funny.

Thanks to my continuing reviewers:

LupiLupus

OkamixInu

Chapter Three

Sunny slept late into the morning- it was about ten when she dragged herself out of bed. Aiko was reading in the kitchen, sitting at the table; when she took her book down from in front of her face Sunny could see she was sucking happily upon a large pink lollipop. Eyes half-open, Sunny sat groggily next to her, noticing the candy with interest.

"Candy?" Sunny muttered, too tired to use full sentences. After all, she had only gotten about four hours of sleep.

"Captain freeloader." Aiko said, continuting to read; she had adopted Sunny's name for him. "He has a remarkable amount of storage space inside his sleeves. He made me eggs, too."

"Good for him."

"He didn't trust me with the stove." pouted Aiko.

"Again, good for him." She sighed. "I need coffee."

"He made some. It's on the counter over there. He left, by the way. He said he was going to find his way to his estate. Go find him, please. He's never going to find it on his own."

"Okay." She yawned, walking over to the coffeepot that Aiko indicated and pouring herself a generous cup. "I'll go find that poor man with no sense of direction, Aiko. See you later."

"Yeah, see you." replied Aiko, absorbed in her book once more.

Sunny took deep sips of her coffee as she walked along the streets, letting it wake her up bit by bit. She assumed Ukitake would go to the main street, since they had gone back from there the following day, and he would probably be able to get directions from there to his _estate_. "Estate." she muttered darkly. Really, an estate?

As soon as she stepped out into the main street, she could tell there was something going on. The 72nd district as an entire entity had moods; sometimes it was happy, sometimes it was sad- today it was gossipy, everyone whispering to their neighbor some small piece of information. Sunny began to giggle helplessly, even though there was nothing funny. _Uh oh, the coffee is kicking in, _she thought. She was getting strange looks herself. She stifled her laughter as she bounced down the street. It wasn't long before she discovered the source of everybody's interest.

He was tall- no, tall didn't even begin to touch upon his height. He was massive. He towered over everyone on the street, a good four feet taller than Sunny herself; he also wore the black kimono and white haori of a shinigami captain. But his height and rank weren't the most spectacular thing about him; his face was. It was the face of a canine, with rich russet fur. Normally Sunny would have some smart comment rolling off her tongue, but because she was deliriously hyper because of the coffee she had just drunk she had a very different reaction.

Giggling, she skipped over to the tall, well, she supposed he was a man. He looked down at her silently, his eyes revealing nothing. "You-" She started, but collapsed into giggles before being able to continue. "You have the cutest ears."

"Thank you." he replied solemnly, but not without a perplexed lilt in his voice.

"No, really. They're so cute. Can I pet them?"

"I suppose…" he said. He was about to kneel down, but Sunny leapt up onto a nearby food stand before he could. She reached her hands out to his ears, he twitching involuntarily as she touched them. She stroked them lightly, giggles escaping her throat every few seconds. He watched her with confusion as she petted his ears for a few minutes straight; he eventually couldn't resist, and asked, "Why do you find my ears so facinating?"

"Well, it's not just the ears. It's the whole picture. I mean, you're a wolf, but you're not. You're a person. It's so cool and different!" she giggled, inwardly sighing at her own antics.

"You… like that?" he asked, clearly shocked.

"Well, sure! I mean, it's definitely different. And it's the best sorta thing to be different! I try to be different. It's no fun being the same as everybody else."

"You're certainly different…"

"Oh, I'm not usually like this, I promise. I just had a _lot_ of coffee, and I'm reeeeaaaallly hyper." she collapsed into giggles. "My name's Sunny, by the way. What's yours?"

"Sajin Komamura."

"Ooh, I like your name. It's fun to say. Sajin, Sajin, Sajin. You're a shinigami captain, aren't you?" she said quickly.

"Yes."

"Is it fun being a captain?"

"Generally." He stuck with short answers, slightly cowed by the voracious young girl.

"Oooh, that's cool. I don't think I want to be a shinigami. Too much work, blech. besides, I'm happy where I am." she collapsed into giggles again.

"Oh boy." a voice said from behind Komamura's back. "Remind me never to make coffee around you again. And why is it than when you meet him, you pet his ears, and when you met me, you tried to steal my food?"

Recognizing the voice, Sunny leaned over Komamura's shoulder, resting her arms on his shoulder and her head on top of them. "Because you don't have fun ears. And I never steal food. Trick people out of it, yes. But I never steal." Just then, the temporary high she had gained from the coffee wore off suddenly, leaving her drained of energy and strangely hungry.

"Are you okay?" Ukitake asked as her eyelids suddenly began to drift closed.

"Fine, just falling asleep on the shoulder of someone I just met." she said sarcastically, patting Komamura's head. Komamura blinked, visibly surprised by the sudden personality change.

"There's the Sunny I know." Ukitake smiled.

"I'm too tired for your ridiculous cheerfulness."

"You really aren't a morning person, are you?"

"No, I'm usually very good with mornings. Your idiotic coffee is what is making me irritable."

"I don't see how one connects to the other…" Komamura interjected. Both Ukitake and Sunny looked at him in surprise.

"Oh be quiet."

"That's what I was thinking." they said simultaneously.

"Oh, Komamura." Ukitake said to the other captain, ignoring Sunny. "Do you know how to get to Ugendo, my family's estate, from here?"

"Yes, I was actually just going there to talk to you."

"Oh, can you do me a favor and take me there? I don't know how to get there from here."

"Of course." said Komamura formally.

"You're kidding me." Sunny sighed. "I didn't have to come out here at all. The world is out to get me, I swear." She jumped down from the table, landing lightly on the dirt of the street. "I'm going home." she said bleakly as she walked off.

"She certainly is a handful." Komamura said after a small pause.

"Yup." Ukitake replied.


	5. Chapter 4

Sorry I haven't updated in a while… I have no excuse except laziness. Anyway, here you go, another chapter! We get to know a little more about Aiko.

btw, Akaichame=red playfulness. :P

As always, thanks soooo much to these guys for reviewing:

LupiLupus

OkamixInu

Chapter Four

Sunny and Aiko left the house at about noon, in search of a decent meal; what was in the pantry at the moment barely even qualified as food. They had poked at the black, ashy mass for a few seconds before Sunny looked suspiciously over at Aiko, and Aiko had given her a huge, innocent smile. Sunny had just rolled her eyes, and gone to get her sandals.

Now, they walked along a quiet street, their bickering the only noise.

"Aiko, really, that food was supposed to last for _at least_ a week! It only lasted for a day, thanks to you and your strange tendency to light things on fire constantly!"

"Sorry." Aiko replied with a blithe smile.

"You are _not_ sorry."

"No, not really."

Sunny stopped and looked weary for a moment, then heaved a sigh. "You really do hurt my brain."

"Sorry."

"You're not sorry."

"Nope."

One street over, another pair of people was bickering loudly as well; they were a petite, light brown-haired girl, and a taller man with black hair that was fixed in a somewhat geometrical triangle-ish shape. Both were dressed in the black kimono of shinigamis. They were a strange pair, to be sure; however, their conversation was even stranger.

"How do you lose a person, Kiyone?" the man shouted.

"Me?" she scoffed. "I didn't lose anybody! It was you, Sentaro! I had nothing to do with it!"

"Are you kidding!? It was totally your fault. _You_ were the one who didn't check that he got to Ugendo safely!"

"Well, that just shows how inconsiderate you are of him! He asked us not to do that anymore!"

"Me? Inconsiderate? You're the one who LOST CAPTAIN UKITAKE!"

It was then that the two slightly slanting streets intersected, and Sunny unexpectedly got a large earful of Sentaro's outburst, though she could not hear exactly what was happening because she was so close to him.

"Why. Just… why." She said hopelessly, her left ear throbbing painfully.

"Grraaaaahhhh!" Kiyone growled obliviously, stalking off with her hands thrown in the air. Sentaro followed her, voice raised but words impossible to understand. As they left, Sunny glimpsed their matching black kimonos.

"Shinigami." she muttered.

"Umm… Sunny… what just happened?" Aiko asked dazedly, walking around the corner; she had missed the entire scene. Sunny sighed jadedly.

"They killed my ear."

"Oh." Aiko considered. "Want me to light them on fire?"

A sneaky smile spread across Sunny's face.

It was time for a little fun.

"Actually…" she said slowly.

"Gather round, gather round." Sunny shouted, inviting all the people on the street to come closer. She wore a black mask that she had tricked someone out of, decorated with black feathers at the edges; it covered only her eyes. Aiko, standing shyly at her side, was wearing a similar mask, except in light blue. Sunny's pink hair was quite distinctive, so most of the people on the street could guess whom the two performers were. Aiko was almost as well known as Sunny, though only because she managed to light mostly everything on fire accidentally.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Aiko whispered worriedly up at Sunny.

"Nope."

"Sunny, I really can't control when I light things on fire; it comes from the little shinigami power that I have- but my power is really immature, and I can't control it at all! I can't even materialize my zanpaktou. What if I light someone on fire by accident!"

"You have shinigami power?" Sunny asked quizzically, though not giving away any extreme surprise.

"Yeeesss…." Aiko said. "I told you."

"When?"

"A couple weeks ago, when I finally realized why I was so prone to lighting things on fire…"

"Oh… did you tell me in the morning?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"That explains it. I can't process any information in the morning."

Aiko sighed.

"Anyway, Aiko, let's get started. I'll leave you to worry about your part, you cute little pyromaniac. I'll worry about mine."

Aiko sighed again.

"Gather round, gather round!" Sunny shouted again, calling in a crowd. Once a sufficient amount of people had gathered, wondering what the trickster and her sister would do this time, Sunny began to speak, stalling until she knew the two shinigami she had seen earlier would come past the spot of street where they were performing. She and Aiko had run along a maze of backstreets, searching for a place they knew the other two would be passing after they got there, judging by their current direction and speed. Now all they had to do was wait.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to a spectacular show. You will not believe your eyes. Watch as we play with fire and disappear like mist- Prepare to be amazed. The secrets to our show are ancient and dangerous, so please be very careful." Sunny kept speaking like this, promoting her and Aiko's trick, waiting for Kiyone and Sentaro to show up, and giving time for Aiko to talk with her zanpaktou. Sunny knew she needed it.

_Hello…Zanpaktou… are you there? _Thought Aiko.

_Mm hmm! _a high, perky voice answered her. Aiko sighed in relief, glad that her zanpaktou had chosen to answer that time around. sometimes she didn't, and Aiko was just left hanging. The conversation also seemed to be rather in control this time around; usually, the reason for her lighting things on fire was a conversation with her zanpaktou that got out of hand, letting her zanpaktou's power seep through to the outside world without a specific form. It usually resulted in something going up in flames.

_Umm…zanpaktou…is there any way to use your power in a more, well, controlled way? _Aiko asked, cutting right to the chase.

_Well, sure. _The voice answered as Aiko closed her eyes, letting her inner world, a wide, open plain covered in red flowers, envelop her. She had been here many times before, when she talked with her zanpaktou in her sleep.

Floating right in front of her was a small, pixie-like creature, with skin as red as the flowers. she wore a short red dress, and even though she was only as tall as Aiko's hand, she was beautiful. She had long red hair that hung down her back; the only parts of her that weren't fire-engine red were her eyes, which were a rich blue, and her wings that sparkled with oranges and yellows, flickering like flames. _I just have to tell you my name, and then you can materialize me. Then you can use me with more control. It's as simple as that!_ The zanpaktou continued.

_But… I couldn't do that before. Why should I be able to do that now?_

_Just because I think you're ready now. I was just waiting for you to actually need me for something to let you hear my name. _The zanpaktou laughed._ Trivial as it is!_

The red pixie sobered, and was silent for a moment. _This is a great power, Aiko, which I'm giving you. _She continued. _I'm not a strong zanpaktou. In fact, I'm rather weak. But you need me to be able to help Sunny, even at all. Things are coming that she cannot brave alone; she needs you to be there, Aiko. And the only way you can go where she goes is to know my name. _

Aiko's mind began to overflow with questions that she wanted to ask- but before she had a chance, her zanpaktou covered Aiko's mouth with one tiny hand and whispered a name.

_Akaichame._

Then Aiko snapped back into the outside world, where the street was teeming with her and her sister's audience. Sunny was smiling impishly down at her, with that sly, happy glint in her eye, and it was hard to believe that there was anything truly dangerous in the world.

But Aiko knew better, and wondered what the future would hold.


	6. Chapter 5

Hello again! another chapter 4u! Jeez I thought the last one took a while… This one took even longer. But I have an excuse this time. my cousin was in town and I had to entertain her, but she wasn't into anime… she thought I was a weirdo because I have bleach posters on my walls, but that's a-ok. I am a weirdo.

ok… random thought… have you ever had a random conversation in a language you don't really speak? I just had one yesterday, in Japanese. It went something like this, except in Japanese:

Me: You're an idiot.

Friend: No, You're an idiot.

Me: Your face is an idiot.

Friend: You're an idiot.

Me: Everyone's an idiot. The world's an idiot.

Friend: You're an idiot.

Me: You're an idiot.

Yeah, I know… It's random…

anywayz, thanks to these guys for commenting! I luffers u!

Evilhumour Author

LupiLupus

idontseepenguins (btw I LOVE your name… it's pretty friggin epic)

Chapter Five

The crowd was growing impatient when Sunny's targets finally appeared; She had been stalling for a good five minutes already. Aiko stood nervously next to her, ready to do her part, and Sunny's words echoed over the crowd. They were ready. All they had to do now was wait for the two shinigami.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, they appeared. They came around the corner together, fighting as loudly as before, though Sunny could not clearly understand what they were saying. Their movements were exaggerated as they struggled to make their way through the crowd that had gathered; Sunny laughed and began the show.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, we will start our show." Her voice boomed out over the crowd. The two fighting shinigami ignored her, or weren't paying any attention to their surroundings- either way, they just kept on walking through the crowd, fighting all the way. The throng stirred excitedly as Sunny continued. "We have only one trick to show you, but it is a magnificent one, with no equal. It is magic like you have never seen!"

The crowd cheered wildly, and Sunny smiled again. All was going according to plan; smugly, she continued. "Now I need a volunteer or two…" she pretended to consider her choices. "How about…" she pointed to the back of the crowd, where her two targets had stopped momentarily to shout whole-heartedly at each other. Slowly, she pointed at them; the crowd held its breath, wondering what poor soul would be singled out by Sunny. "You two."

The crowd half-cheered, half laughed as it pushed the two shinigami to the front of the crowd. The two were very confused as they were pushed up to Sunny and Aiko, and attempted to resist the crowd; but the two shinigami could not push off the swarm of people. Eventually, they found themselves standing next to Sunny, who looked down at them with a playful smile. Aiko stood behind them.

"What is this-" The female shinigami with short brown hair started to say indignantly, but Sunny quickly cut her off.

"What are your names?" Sunny asked jauntily.

"I'm Kiyone." The girl pouted.

"Sentaro." The man said reluctantly, sticking his nose in the air.

"How would you like to be part of an amazing display of magic?" Sunny said.

"Not at all." Sentaro said honestly.

Peeved, Sunny said shortly, "It was a rhetorical question." and began to speak to the audience again. "Get ready! The show is about to start!"

Sunny saluted to Aiko, who nodded. It was time. Kiyone and Sentaro made a quick attempt to get away from Sunny and Aiko, but Sunny blocked their way, and grinned.

"Akaichame." Aiko whispered- the result was large.

A bright flash of orange light filled the air, momentarily blinding everyone- then a wave of heat swept over the crowd. When the spots cleared from everyone's eyes and they looked up, only Aiko stood in front of the crowd, holding an unsheathed katana that was much too big for her, with a light yellow hilt. She also had a burnt orange sheath, which she held in her other hand. Her hands were suddenly black with ash, and her hair was blown back from her face.

"Oh." she said dazedly as the crowd clapped.

Already miles away, Sunny leapt lightly over rooftops with Kiyone over one shoulder and Sentaro over the other, both clearly unconscious; each step was faster and longer than was normal. Although her steps were light, she was breathing hard. Even the most athletic shinigami would have had trouble carrying such weight; but she perked up as she thought of her destination.

Kiyone stirred and began to wake up over one shoulder; although the flash from Aiko's zanpaktou had stunned her, she had not been very deeply unconscious. She groaned and tried to identify where she was and what was going on, though she was too weak to really move much.

"Omygod…" she gasped as she realized what was going on; Sunny turned to her.

"Hi." Sunny said dryly.

"What's going on? Who are you? How are you so good at shunpo? Are you kidnapping us? OHMYGOD YOU'RE KIDNAPPING US!!!" Kiyone said quickly and anxiously. Sunny rubbed her ear as Kiyone yelled into it.

"I'm serious. The world hates me. Shunpo? Is that what this is called? I never knew it had a name… I've just always been able to do it…" Sunny groaned.

"Huh?" Sentaro said from Sunny's other shoulder, waking up. "Whoa!"

Sunny saw where she was going with relief- a tall blue building with a steeply slanting tile roof. Gratefully, she landed on the very top of the roof and set Kiyone and Sentaro down.

"Well, have fun up here." Sunny said happily. "It's about forty feet to the ground, by the way. You should be fine if you just stay up here, though… I suppose someone will come get you at about sunset, when the roof-cleaner guy comes. Unless you want to try jumping down."

Sentaro shook his head vigorously; with that, Sunny shunpoed away and out of sight, leaving Kiyone and Sentaro sitting on the roof together, at a loss about what exactly to do.

"Well…" Sentaro said, his anger at Kiyone dissolved. "What now?"


	7. Chapter 6

Ok yes, it is an Ukitake chapter. We will eventually be seeing a lot more of Komamura, so just bear with me. Yay two chapters in a day!

and another random thought… I may start doing these for each chapter. random thoughts, that is. Ok, here goes:

Gin needs a hug. no, seriously. He needs a great big hug: watch this video and you will understand. Just go to 2:29 and pause it and just look at his poor sad face when Luppi says he doesn't like him… awww! I just want to hug him and tell him it's okay! It won't let me put half the link on here, but it's on youtube, so you can just type in the other half of it.

.com/watch?v=H1-u2xepw_w

Chapter Six

Sunny got up early the next morning, surprisingly having gotten a lot of sleep; Yoru no Futago hadn't visited her the night before, a fact for which she was thankful. Aiko was still asleep when she left; Sunny left a note on the kitchen table telling her where she had gone. Sunny breathed in the morning air happily. With her short black kimono and pink hair, she was unmistakable as she walked down the main street of town, where everything was just coming alive. People waved to her as she passed; everybody knew who she was. She tricked a rich trader out of a cinnamon roll the same way she had attempted to trick Ukitake out of his food, and walked down the street eating it contentedly. She was just about to start heading back home when she noticed a man in a white haori walking through the crowd; she looked closer, and saw that he had long white hair and was wearing a black kimono as well.

"Oy! Captain Freeloader!" Sunny called; Ukitake turned around. People walking down the street around her gave her funny looks as she shouted.

"Oh, hi, Sunny." He greeted as she ran up to meet him. "How are you?"

"Fine." She said wryly. "And you?"

"Oh, I'm great!"

"Yeah, well at least you're not hacking up blood. _That_ was unpleasant." Sunny said sarcastically.

"Yeah, it was…" Ukitake considered something for a moment. "Hey, Sunny, are you free today?"

"What exactly do I have to be free from?"

"Uh, good point. Can you leave Aiko alone for a while? I think it might be too late to go back and get her now…"

"Too late for what? And yes, Aiko can take care of herself just fine. She's got shinigami powers anyway. She'll just blow anyone who messes with her to smithereens; she's pretty friggin amazing." Sunny said proudly.

"Aiko's got shinigami powers? Since when?" Ukitake asked incredulously.

"Yesterday, actually."

"Oh…" He digested that for a second. "That's weird. Well, I wanted to ask you if you want to come to my estate-"

"You have an estate…" Sunny muttered, still irked by the fact that Ukitake was rich.

"Uh, yeah. Um, so I was wondering if you wanted to come to the estate with me for the day."

"Is there food?" Sunny asked.

"Well, yes, but-"

"Good food?"

"Yes, I suppose."

"Then I'm there." Sunny decided.

"Um… good?"

Sunny laughed at Ukitake's puzzled expression. "I have a one-track mind." She declared proudly.

"If you say so… Anyway, follow me. I'll show you the way to the estate, Ugendo."

"Estate…" She fumed.

Sunny followed Ukitake along a maze of winding roads- he seemed to know his way much better than he had when she had first met him. As they walked, they slowly entered a high-class neighborhood, with bigger, nicer houses, well trimmed landscaping, and fewer people on the streets. Sunny looked around, impressed by the neighborhood but definitely not about to say anything.

"So… tell me a bit about yourself." Ukitake said after a few minutes, attempting to start a conversation.

"Well, I'm not going to tell you anything about myself without knowing anything about you. You know about Aiko and my status as a trickster- tell me about you first." Sunny said sensibly.

"Well, there's not really much to tell… You already know that I'm the captain of the thirteenth squad. My best friend is named Shuunsui Kyoraku. I have five brothers and two sisters-"

"Whoa, that's a lot of siblings."

"Yeah."

"Are any of them as _interesting_ as Aiko?"

"No, thank goodness. Aiko is great, but I don't think I could handle seven siblings that light things on fire constantly."

"True that."

"What about you? Tell me. My history isn't very interesting, in general."

"Oh, I think you're _interesting_. Very interesting… and I'm sure you have a lot of good stories." She said with an impish grin. Ukitake laughed weakly.

"Gee, thanks…" Ukitake said uncertainly; Sunny laughed. "What about you? What is your history like?" He asked.

"Well, my history… I suppose it could qualify as interesting." She replied bitterly. "I'm not sad about it or anything, but it kinda sucks."

"Huh?" Ukitake asked.

"Well, if you really want to know, my mom had shinigami power, and abandoned me and left to become a shinigami when I was too little to take care of myself. I became a trickster in time, but it was bad for a while." She continued.

"Sunny… I'm sorry for bringing it up…"

"Don't be. It's okay. I don't try to hide it or anything. Besides, it's ok. I'm fine. I don't need anyone. I've got me!" She smiled, and skipped forward and started to walk backward in front of Ukitake, who met her eyes sadly.

"Are you sure it's okay?" He asked.

"Mmm-hmm." She grinned. "I'm sure." She turned around; behind her, Ukitake wore a gentle smile.

"You don't always have to be so strong, you know." He said quietly.

She turned around again, and stopped. The confident, cynical smile left her face, and was replaced by a somewhat sad, soft smile. "I know." she said calmly. "But I want to be." Ukitake smiled back at her; they held each other's gaze for a few more seconds.

"Oh, hi!" A voice called from behind them; they turned to see another shinigami, his brown hair pulled back into a ponytail; he wore a round straw hat and an ostentatious pink coat over his black uniform; underneath the garish coat, the corners of a white captain's haori were peeking out.

"H-hi, Shuunsui." Ukitake stuttered, startled. Sunny could not see it, but his cheeks were a pale pink; Shuunsui noticed it right away.

"Oh-ho-ho. What have we here?" The captain said slyly, pulling his hat down. "Is this your girlfriend, Juushiro?"

"Nope. My name's Sunny. I'm just a well, I suppose I'm his friend." Sunny said flatly. "I make it a rule not to date guys who hack up blood all over you the first time you meet them."

"Eh…heh…heh…" Ukitake laughed, embarrassed. "Sorry about that…"

"Let me say, I am never going to get the blood out of that kimono. It's not good."

"Sorry…" Ukitake apologized; Shuunsui chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah." She waved off his apology, and turned her attention to the new captain. "So who're you?" She asked directly.

"Shuunsui Kyoraku. Nice to meet you." He answered. "You two get along well, don't you?"

"Well enough." Sunny replied.

"Hey, Shuunsui. Where's Nanou?" Ukitake asked loudly. Quickly, the newcomer captain shunpoed over and covered Ukitake's mouth.

"Shhh!!!!" he exclaimed. "Don't say that so loud! She's looking for me, trying to make me do work or something-"

"God forbid she make you do _work_." Sunny said sarcastically.

"I know!" Shuunsui said, dead serious.

"He totally missed that, didn't he." She whispered to herself, and looked down for a few seconds; when she looked back up, he seemed to be complaining loudly about this Nanou person, who he seemed to be calling Nanou-Chan.

"Shinigamis are all nutcases." She said to herself, her voice cracking. "They're all insane…"

"But Juushiro, you've got to help me! Nanou-Chan is scary when she's mad! I mean, I can't take a decent nap around her at all, and she's in an especially bad mood today because I didn't finish something that was 'due three months ago' or something ridiculous like that." Shuunsui begged, making quotes in the air. "Just take me to Ugendo with you and let me sleep, please!"

"But you have work to do!"

"No I don't."

"Yes you do. You, sir, are lying through your nose. Go do your work." Sunny jumped into the conversation.

"But I wanna sleep." Shuunsui said simply.

"No. Bad. Go." Sunny said shortly, pointing back in the direction where he came from.

Shuunsui laughed. "Juushiro, you sure know how to pick em'. She's a wild one."

"Heh…" Ukitake smiled.

"Gee, thanks." Sunny said wryly. "Now go."

"Fine, I'm going." Shuunsui pouted, and slouched back past Sunny.

"Good boy." She said dryly. As he passed her, he whispered quickly into her ear, making sure that Ukitake could neither see nor hear him.

"Be good to him, Sunny. He likes you, which doesn't happen often-he usually doesn't even make distinctions between people. He's just too nice to everyone."

Sunny was puzzled, and watched the captain in the pink coat go around the corner until she couldn't see him anymore.

"Weird guy." She mused.

"Come on, Sunny." Ukitake called. "This way."

She smiled and followed him.


	8. Chapter 7

Yay! Another chapter after a loooooong break. Sorry for not updating in a while. I've been working on another project 4 while, and that's been taking up all my time. And yes, I know that Ukitake's many siblings live at Ugendo 2, but I am not going 2 include them cuz I want 2 stay loyal 2 the manga, and I don't know if they're going 2 tell us more about his sisters and brothers l8r. I don't want to get anything wrong.

I am really depressed btw. I am just _waiting_ to see more Komamura in here, but here I am with another ukitake chapter… sigh. I think the next chapter will have Komamura in it tho. ok… shout out to idontseepenguins… I just remembered that a teacher at my school has a watering can with a sticker on it that says "one by one the penguins steal my sanity" on it. And thanks for reviewing btw. Thanks to OkamixInu as well… thanks for the spelling correction! :P Also thanks to Larkfall 4 reviewing.

Random thought… my brain hurts. No, really, it does. My parents are making me do math review over the summer because my final math exam score sucked, even though I did fine in the class overall… plus, I'm writing a book and am trying to get over writers block by writing something different. My brain is like spaghetti. Yes, I did mean spaghetti. So please forgive me if this chapter sucks.

Chapter Seven

"What the hell." Sunny said bluntly as she stood in front of Ugendo's gate. It was tall and well polished, and it was obvious that there were expansive gardens behind it. "I thought you said you were _lesser_ nobility." She continued.

"I am." Ukitake said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yeah, yeah." She muttered. "Jeez, this guy really is unbelievable." The gate opened slowly as they stood there, and three people stood in front of them who were obviously people who worked there, two boys and a girl. "Welcome back, Ukitake-sama." They chorused.

Sunny took one look at the scene in front of her and turned on her heel, and began to march back up the street.

"Uh- wait- where are you going?" Ukitake asked helplessly, reaching a hand out to her.

"I, sir, am going home, because this place is laughably cheesy and way too big. I will see you later." She told him simply.

"Ah- well, can't you at least stay for a minute?"

"You will never catch me going through that ridiculously large gate, Jushirou Ukitake."

"Ah- Um-" Ukitake struggled, trying to come up with a reason for her to have to come in. The three servants at the gate watched with amusement, trying desperately not to laugh. "You'll get lost." He said weakly.

"I will not." She looked over her shoulder and studied him dryly. "I have an excellent sense of direction, unlike someone I know." She began to walk again. Behind her, Ukitake grinned.

"Well, aren't you hungry?" He called after her with a smile. She stopped. "We have all sorts of food, anything you could want."

Sunny paused. "Anything?" She asked slowly.

"Anything." He confirmed; She paused again before she turned around and shuffled back to him, looking at the ground.

"Rich kid." She said underneath her breath, then looked up at him. With a playful smile, she stuck her tongue out at him and ran forward through the gate. "Hi." She said perkily to the three at the gate, faking being hyper and overenthusiastic, trying to confuse them to see what they would do. She kept running forward up the main path, but kept them in the corner of her eyes, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Uh-h-hi-" the girl managed to stutter out, just as confused at her sudden personality change as Komamura had been. Sunny giggled. Ukitake shook his head good-naturedly behind her, a smile on his face.

"No matter what she says, she_ is_ going to get lost. Sunny…" He laughed as he began to follow her down the road.

Three minutes later, Sunny sat at a low table, shoving bowl after bowl of food into her mouth; she was eating so fast that Ukitake wondered if she could even taste anything at the speed she was going. He sat across from her, not eating even though there was a place setting out for him.

"Wow, you were hungry." Ukitake marveled as he stared at her.

"Yesh." Sunny agreed through a mouthful of food, too busy eating to show her usual sarcasm. Ukitake looked at her warily for a moment, expecting her to follow that word up with some biting comment, but when she didn't say anything else, he relaxed and began to smile again. He kept that goofy smile on his face for the next five minutes, as Sunny devoured an entire tableful of food that would normally have taken about ten people at least a half-hour to complete.

"Heh…heh…heh…" He laughed as Sunny set down the last bowl with a satiated smile. Sunny's smile soon turned to a comically suspicious look a him out of the corner of her eyes.

"Wachoo lookin' at?" She said quickly.

"Ah, nothing, nothing!" He laughed, waving his hands defensively. "It's just… you really aren't like anyone I've ever met." He continued in a more serious tone. Sunny looked at him for a moment, contemplating. She was silent for a moment, just staring at him. Her mouth opened slightly, and she looked like she was about to say something.

Suddenly, she broke out into a rascally smile and slammed her elbow down on the table and rested her head in her hand, the sound causing the captain to jump.

"And may you never meet anyone like me again." She grinned. She stood up, and walked over to the sliding door, which was halfway open, and pushed it open all the way. The room they were in was situated on the banks of a small stream that gurgled merrily by outside the window, and she smiled despite herself. It was truly quite a beautiful estate, despite her first misgivings. "Well," She mused quietly, "As long as I'm here, I might as well enjoy myself." she skipped out of the room and jumped easily over the stream, and then spun to face Ukitake with a smile. He was looking at her with amusement, a light smile on his lips.

"This is so cheesy and such a stereotypical castle-sort-of-thing, but I guess it's okay." she told him. "I mean, at least they have good food."

He laughed. "Well, I'm glad it's up to your standards." He was about to say something else, but he was interrupted by a girlish voice coming from outside, to Sunny's left.

"Aahhh! You!" The voice said, shocked. Sunny looked over at where the voice was coming from, and almost gasped before she stopped herself. It was the two shinigami who she had recently put on the roof, the girl pointing at her with her mouth wide open, and the man just looking at her in extreme surprise, too amazed to say anything.

Ukitake stood up and walked out of the room. "Oh, hi, Kiyone, Sentaro. What are you doing here?" He said with a smile. Kiyone and Sentaro glanced at him for a short second before turning back to Sunny; Sentaro handed a stack of paper that he held under one arm to his captain without looking at him.

"Paperwork." Sentaro said unnecessarily, then turned to Kiyone. "What is shunpo-roof-mask girl doing here?" He asked her urgently. Kiyone looked over at him with annoyance in her eyes.

"Why are you looking at me? How should I know?" She answered him angrily.

"Do you know?"

"No! Ask her if you want to know!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!" They turned away from each other in a huff as Ukitake looked on with confusion, and Sunny with glee.

"Shunpo-roof-mask girl?" Ukitake asked confusedly, looking from Sunny to Sentaro to Kiyone blankly. Kiyone and Sentaro looked at him, then gasped and fell on the floor, practically kneeling before him.

"Captain! We apologize for our rude and thoughtless conduct! We have been ignoring you!" The two said in perfect unison.

"Ah- that's okay." Ukitake said, smiling down on them. "But what's this shunpo-roof-mask girl thing about?"

The two spoke again in unison. "Sir! As you know, we were put on a roof the other day because of a mysterious woman in a mask! Sir, the pink hair that his woman has is unmistakable! This is her!" Ukitake looked down at them and sighed. He looked up at Sunny.

"Sunny, that sounds like you." He admitted. "Is this true? Can you really do shunpo?" Kiyone and Sentaro looked up at him, shocked that the only thing that he really seemed concerned about was that she could do shunpo.

Sunny grinned internally as she decided that this was a perfect time to have a little fun. The two people that she had recently put on a roof seemed to be Ukitake's direct subordinates; the situation was almost too perfect. Besides, she didn't want the word getting out to too many people that she could do shunpo.

"I have no clue what you are talking about." she said blankly.

"Don't lie! I know it was you!" Kiyone exclaimed, pointing at Sunny again.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't know what you're talking about."

Ukitake sighed, realizing that Sunny was playing games and would never tell the truth now.

"It was you!" Sentaro burst out.

"No, it wasn't." Sunny said, feigning annoyance at being falsely accused.

"It was!"

"No, it wasn't! Is this how you always treat special guests of your captain? Accuse them of crimes?" She sighed angrily. "I'm leaving, Jushirou." She said as she stalked off, using his first name to make it seem like they were closer than they were. The captain looked at her back as she left, smiling despite the fact that he knew calling him by his first name was only part of her games, and that she would go back to addressing him more formally once this game was done. For some reason, it made him happy to think that she felt comfortable enough around him to call him Jushirou.

"Aren't you going to go after her and arrest her?" Sentaro asked his captain expectantly.

"Um, well, I can't really. She's my friend." Ukitake smiled at them benignly.

"Friend?" Kiyone gasped. "But she put us on a roof!"

"She didn't mean any real harm, I'm sure. She was just being Sunny." Ukitake assured her. His two subordinates didn't exactly know what to say. "Hey, can she really do shunpo?" He asked them curiously.

"Uh, yeah." Sentaro answered.

"Oh, I wonder where she learned that." Ukitake grinned, then realized something. "Oh. She'll probably get lost if I don't go find her." He smiled at Kiyone and Sentaro, and quickly shunpoed off to find Sunny.

"Sunny? What kind of name is that?" Kiyone muttered as her captain disappeared.


	9. Chapter 8

Hi! I'm back! I finally got another chapter up… I am sorry, but my chapters are going to become even more few and far between. I started school, and things are getting crazy. well, at least I got this chapter up. Wow, this took a while…

Thanks to Beni Ookami, bleedingcrimson, and blacklightningwolf 4 reviewing! Ur my best friends!

Random thought: Math=crap. It should die.

Chapter Eight

Sunny was still awake at midnight, when the moon was at its highest and Aiko was sleeping peacefully next to her. It seemed that no matter how much she tossed and turned, she couldn't sleep.

Earlier that day, she had found her way back home with a little help from Ukitake. Well, actually, he hadn't been much help, but he tried. It was strange. Usually, people got chased away by her sarcastic personality, but the captain was different. Somehow, he seemed to actually like her. Sunny was starting to like him too, despite her misgivings. But thinking about him wasn't what was keeping her up. There was a sort of uncomfortable restless feeling under her skin that wouldn't let her stay still; so she tossed and turned and tossed and turned.

Eventually, she gave up on sleeping and gently got out of bed, making sure not to wake up Aiko. She walked around the room a few times, hoping that would help, but it didn't. She decided to go to the roof; that was what she always did when she had something to think about. "Maybe it'll help, being outside…" She whispered to herself. Her voice sounded unnaturally loud in her ears.

She tiptoed down the hall and to the front door, opening it slowly and making sure it didn't creak. Aiko was a heavy sleeper, but she didn't want to take any chances. As soon as she walked outside, the cool night air washed over her; she breathed it in deeply. She had been right. As soon as she had walked out of the house, the strange anxiety had faded. She slowly climbed up the tree that hung over her house and jumped lithely from it to the roof, trying to make as little noise as possible. With light steps, she ran up to the highest part of the roof and just stood there for a minute, looking around. It was a beautiful view; beyond a few rooftops se saw the river sparkling, and beyond that she saw the Sereitei wall. Above her, the stars sparkled merrily.

"Stars…" She whispered. She was reminded suddenly of Yoru no Futago, with their strange dream world. She shivered. She hadn't seen them since a few nights ago, since Ukitake had slept at her house, but she got the feeling that it was only a matter of time. Gracefully, she sank to her knees and then lied down into a comfortable position. She closed her eyes. As long as the anxiety was gone, she might as well get some sleep.

As soon as she closed her eyes, she regretted it.

She found herself standing in a cloud of white mist that swirled around her like water. It cleared, and she found herself standing on the same black grass hill as always. The moon and stars twinkled high above her like diamonds. Cold diamonds.

Yoru no Futago came over the hill with smiles on their perfect faces. As always, Sunny froze. She was struck with fear down to her very heart, and her breaths came fast and shallow.

"Kioko." They said calmly. She took a shaking step backwards.

"No. No, no, no." She whimpered. She knew what they would say now. They always said the same thing, even if she said different things. They would tell her that only she had the power to set them free, and that she only had to call their name to do that. That's what they always said.

They smiled wider.

"Our power is growing, Kioko." They said coolly. There was so much malice packed into those five words that Sunny nearly screamed before she stopped myself. Usually, they were mellifluous and overly charming, but not this time. Somehow they had deviated from the script. For some reason they were angry.

"I'm sorry, so sorry, I'm sorry." Sunny found herself babbling. Yoru no Futago walked forward towards her, until they were only a few feet away. They kept smiling.

"Don't be sorry. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't exist." They said, their voices disdainful.

"No, b-but, you're angry. I'm s-sorry." She stuttered, taking another shuddering step backwards. Yoru no Futago looked at her thoughtfully, then up towards the sky.

"You know… we're trapped here." They said. Their voices were less angry, but just as loud. "We want to be free, Kioko. We want to be free. We want to see the day. It's always night here, Kioko. You know that restlessness you felt earlier? We gave that to you. That is what we feel every second of every day. That same restlessness. We will ask you one more time." They looked back at Sunny and stared her directly in the eyes. Sunny was frozen, even more afraid than before; she had stopped breathing entirely. "Call our name." They said pleadingly as their features softened.

"No… but, I can't…" Sunny whimpered. Yoru no Futago's features became angry again, and this time Sunny did scream. She couldn't help it. She was more scared than she had ever been before, and she didn't even know why.

"Then we will free ourselves, even if you die along the way. We _will _see the sun." They said solemnly, fading into white smoke. Sunny stared at them until they weren't there anymore; she realized she was still screaming. Without any definite shift from sleep from consciousness, she was suddenly awake.

"It's okay. You're okay." She heard a deep voice say; she gasped. Somehow, she seemed to be pressed against something large and sturdy; her scream faded into desperate sobs as she held on even tighter. She was faintly aware of holding fistfuls of fabric, and having a gentle weight pressing down on her head, as it someone's hand was there. But she was still too afraid to care. She held on to whatever it was that she was holding for dear life, and kept crying. "You don't have to cry." The voice spoke again. It finally registered in her mind that she was holding onto a _person_, and she looked up to see who it was, tears still running down her face_._

"Holy crap, it's you." She said with surprise, still sobbing. She was looking up into the canine face of Sajin Komamura.


	10. Chapter 9

Hello again! Thanx 2 these ppl 4 reviewing: Kira michi and Senri Shiki fan! (And Senri Shiki fan, I agree. Shiki is ah-ma-zing.)

Random thought: I probably should be doing my homework right now, but I don't feel like it. :D

Chapter Nine

Sunny looked up at Komamura and struggled to compose herself. Normally, she would never be caught dead crying, let alone clinging to someone she had only met once. Or clinging to anyone at all, for that matter. Wiping the tears off her face, she fell backwards so she and Komamura were kneeling on the roof about two feet away from each other.

"Well, hmm… this is an interesting situation." Sunny said with a wry smile. Somehow, she had managed to stop crying. Komamura raised his… eyebrows, she supposed. Except that he didn't really have eyebrows. But that was the vibe.

"I see your sarcasm is still intact." He said gently, as if he was worried about her. Sunny pasted a jaunty smile on her face, even though the last thing she felt like doing just then was smiling.

"So… what happened?" She asked, genuinely interested. She wondered why she had woken up clinging to him; she assumed that he had come to her when she was asleep, but she didn't have a clue why. It was fairly easy to figure out that she had grabbed him in her sleep out of fear, sort of like sleepwalking, but other than that she was very confused.

"I heard someone screaming, so I came to help. I didn't know it was you, though." He said, sounding slightly puzzled.

"I was actually screaming?" Sunny winced. She wondered how many people had heard her. Aiko definitely had.

"Yes."

"Wait a minute… how did you hear me? Were you just taking a _stroll_ around the 92nd district at night?" Sunny asked, her voice thick with cynicism.

"I heard you from behind the Seireitei wall. I have… very good hearing." He said with a straight face, not seeming to hear her sarcasm.

"Oh." Sunny wasn't sure what to say next. Absentmindedly, she looked over his shoulder. Behind him, the sun was just coming up. The sky was a light pink, and the river sparkled like diamonds. Like stars… her eyes went wide again as she was reminded of Yoru no Futago. They wanted to be free, but she couldn't free them. She couldn't. She was too afraid. Her thoughts turned suddenly into a jumbled mess, and she pulled her knees to her chest; she closed her eyes tightly and whimpered. She was suddenly afraid.

"…Sunny?" Komamura said, reaching a hand out towards her. She opened her eyes suddenly and fell backwards, swatting his hand away.

"Don't touch me!" She yelped, her eyes not seeing him. Slowly, she faded back into reality. She reminded herself over and over again that Yoru no Futago were not there, that it was day. That the person in front of her might be her friend, or at the very least someone that meant her no harm. The terror melted away, and she sat up again. She looked over at Komamura, who was looking away from her, back towards the sunrise.

"I'll be going, then." He said formally. He stood up slowly as Sunny looked up at him. There was something strange in his voice; she realized with surprise that it was thinly veiled hurt. She had done something wrong. Sunny looked up at him confusedly. She might have been the trickster, but she didn't have a clue what to do. She had never actually caused anyone pain.

"You… don't have to go. Stay for breakfast or something." She muttered awkwardly, her sarcasm gone.

"No, I have work to do." Komamura said in the same voice. Sunny sighed almost inaudibly. She really didn't have a clue what to do. Komamura walked over towards the other edge of the roof with long steps.

_He walks… more lightly than I would imagine. _Sunny thought. It was true. Komamura, for all his size, walked with steps that made no noise. She watched as he got to the other end of the roof and stood for a long moment. He seemed to be thinking.

"Thank you." Sunny said, her voice almost a whisper. She knew he had heard it. He had very good hearing, after all.

"You're welcome." He said after a pause. He sounded almost surprised. behind him, Sunny found the strength to stand. Her legs shook as she balanced wobbily on the top of the roof. She smiled again, this time because she wanted too.

"Hey, Wolfie." She said, her sarcasm replenished. "Stop by sometime." Komamura shifted his weight onto his other foot.

"Maybe." He said somberly.

"Nuh-uh. I want an answer, fluffy." She ordered. Komamura turned around, his eyes amused.

"Maybe." He said again. Sunny raised her eyebrows.

"You're acting intractable." She frowned.

"Hm?" He muttered, confused, but not about to admit he didn't know what that meant. Sunny resisted the urge to smile. Confuse someone, and they were more likely to listen to what you said. She had figured that out a long time ago, when she had first begun being a trickster. It was the most basic of principles.

"So, will you or not?" She smiled wryly. He was silent for another moment.

"Alright, I will." He said eventually, and Sunny smiled wider.

"Okey-dokey. See you later." She turned around. Behind her, Komamura gave off the vibe of raising his eyebrows again. He couldn't quite figure her out. He watched her walk to the other end of the roof, where she paused.

Then she shunpoed off.

Komamura sighed. She confused him to no end. Shunpo? Where had she learned that? He looked at where she had stood for a few seconds before he shook his head with a small smile and shunpoed off as well.

Sunny walked into the house to see Aiko walking out of the bedroom, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She was carrying Akaichame, her zanpaktou, in one hand. Sunny looked at it with an amused smile.

"Going to go kill some hollows?" Sunny asked, messing up her hair as she walked past. Aiko looked blearily up at Sunny, then back down at the sword she was holding.

"Oh, why am I holding this?" Aiko said fuzzily, putting it down. Sunny shook her head and laughed. Aiko was one hell of a younger sister. Absentminded, likely to set things on fire, and possessing a zanpaktou, she had it all. Aiko looked up at Sunny as the older girl walked past her and into the kitchen.

"Want breakfast?" Sunny called.

"Sure." Aiko said. She paused, then continued. "I had a weird dream last night." There was a profound silence from the kitchen. "I dreamed that someone was screaming, and then talking to someone else, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I only remember what it sounded like though, not what it looked like. it was the strangest thing, so random." Sunny didn't reply for a while.

"Yeah, weird." Sunny said eventually. Aiko suddenly looked heartbreakingly sad, but Sunny couldn't see her. Aiko knew full well that what she had heard hadn't been a dream. She just wanted to test a theory; that theory had been proven right. Sunny didn't share things with her. Not important things, anyway. She suffered alone. Aiko suddenly felt like crying. Even after all the time they had spent together, Sunny didn't really trust her. Even after all that time, Aiko still felt like they were strangers. That was the thing with Sunny. She never let you get close to her.


	11. Chapter 10

Hiya! Wazzup. I'm back again. whoot whoot 10 chapters! Plus a prologue, but that's irrelevant. 2 in a day! This one is a bit more serious, with a bit of Sunny's past in it. That's what the italics are, if you didn't get that.

Thanks 2 Beni Ookami 4 reviewing! I will take your suggestions into consideration :) wow that sounded official. Also thanks 2 Kira michi, my biffl

Random thought: I seriously have bad taste in music. But that's okay. Heh…

Chapter Ten

Sunny walked through the 92nd district unusually quietly. Even though she was hungry, she didn't try to trick anyone out of food; she just wasn't in the mood. She felt bad about lying to Aiko, and she was worried about Yoru no Futago. She wondered whether she should just release them and be done with them, but in her heart she knew she could never do that; she was afraid of what would happen after that. She didn't have a clue whether they would just leave her alone and go their separate way, or whether they would want revenge on her. She didn't even know what they were. At least where they were right now, wherever that was, they were relatively confined. As for Aiko, she just didn't want the young girl to worry about her. She never wanted her to have to worry about anything.

She found herself walking down a small side street. It was lined with scraggly trees and rickety houses, just like the rest of the 92nd district. But this street was special. This street was full of memories. She came to a corner and stopped. She looked over to her left and smiled. This was where she had found Aiko, when Aiko was no more than a baby and Sunny no more than a child. She hadn't been Sunny then, though; she was only Kioko. That nickname came later. Sunny closed her eyes and reached back into her memories, thinking about that day so long ago, the day when she had first met her adoptive sister. It was a meeting she could never forget, no matter how may hundreds of years passed. She had been a different girl then. Now her eyes were bright, but back then they were dull and sad. She had been hurt, back then. Betrayed. But Sunny passed by those memories quickly. She didn't want to think about them.

It had been a cool afternoon, with a brisk breeze. She had been wearing the same black kimono as she was wearing now, but it was in better shape. And back then, it had fit her properly. She had been a slight, skinny child, with the same bright pink hair, though it had been shorter then. She couldn't remember now why she had been walking down that street in the first place, but that didn't matter much. All that mattered now was that she had been in the right place at the right time.

_Kioko walked down the street with her eyes glazed over. The breeze bit into her roughly, but she didn't notice. She was lost in her own thoughts. The other people on the small street she was walking down looked at her curiously, but no one talked to her. It seemed like there was some sort of wall around her that no one could break through; she was so eerily silent. Even her steps made no noise. _

_On the corner in front of Kioko sat a woman dressed in a ragged kimono that seemed to have once been yellow. The woman was no longer young, looking to be about the equivalent of seventy years old in the real world. Her white hair was long and pulled back into a messy bun; in her arms she held a squalling baby that she was trying to comfort. _

_"Shh, don't cry, little one. Sleep now." The woman soothed the child. "Sleep." Kioko heard the woman and looked over curiously; she saw the baby and stopped, cocking her head to one side. She walked towards the woman and the child, and then kneeled down next to them. The old woman looked up in shock. _

_"Is this your child?" Kioko asked softly._

_"No… it's not. It's my granddaughter. My daughter died and left her with me." The woman said, slightly unnerved by Kioko and her piercing stare._

_"Oh. She's crying."_

_"…yes, she is." _

_"Can I sing her a lullaby?" Kioko asked quietly. "My mother used to sing it to me." The past tense in the sentence didn't escape the old woman, and she gained a little sympathy for the skinny girl. With a sad smile, she nodded. Kioko smiled back, and began to sing. Her voice was whispery, and the tune was haunting. The old woman became quickly transfixed, as did the baby. As she sang, the child stopped crying._

"_Sleep on, little child_

_Sleep until tomorrow._

_Sleep in this bed of roses_

_And may you never feel the thorns._

_May you sleep until tomorrow_

_Sleep until the dawn_

_Sleep on, little child_

_And feel safe and warm." _

_Kioko fell silent. _

_"That was beautiful." The old woman said breathlessly. Kioko smiled and stood up; she started walking away without another word._

_"Ah- wait! Don't go yet!" The old woman said. Kioko stopped and turned around. Her face was curious, but her eyes were sad. _

_"What?"_

_"Well… um…" The old woman said, hurt in her voice. "Do you want this child?" Kioko froze. _

_"Are you giving this child away?" Kioko said bitterly. "Does she mean that little to you?" She was angry, and the woman's face was pained._

_"No, that's not it. She means that much to me. You are young and strong. You can take care of her much better than I can. Please, take her. For her own good." _

_"I am a stranger. How do you know I will treat her kindly?" _

_"Please, take her. Please." The woman said. Kioko looked down at her disdainfully, and walked over; she grabbed the child from her arms. _

_"I will take her. I will not leave a child in the care of one such as you, who would give her away so easily." She said angrily. By then, everyone on the street was watching. _

_"Thank you, oh, thank you. Bless you." the woman said. Kioko looked down at the woman in disgust and walked away. Her steps were just as light as before; the baby was crying again. _

_"Shh. It's okay. Sleep." To her surprise, the child obeyed, closing its eyes. She looked down at her and smiled; she realized she didn't know her name. "I'll give you one." She said to herself; she thought for a few moments, then decided. "I'll call you Aiko. It means little loved one, because that is what you will be from now on. I will love you, and I won't abandon you." She held the child tightly to her chest. _

_Aiko slept on. _

Sunny thought back on that day with a mixture of disgust and nostalgia. She stood on that corner for a while, just thinking. After a while, she began to walk again, feeling more content than she had before.

_Don't think you can escape from us._ She heard two voices suddenly echo through her head. She froze, her eyes becoming wide and afraid. _Didn't we tell you we would see the day? It's only a matter of time before we break completely free. Just you wait. _

Sunny fell to her knees, covering her ears. "No, no, no. Go away…" She whimpered. This couldn't be happening. She had assumed that Yoru no Futago had been trapped in her dreams, but apparently they weren't. Their voices echoed maliciously through her head as people along the street stared at her; Yoru no Futago laughed. Terrified, as she always was when she met the two of them, she shot forward and shunpoed away. She didn't even know where she was going. As she shunpoed, Yoru no Futago fell silent, but she was still afraid. She kept shunpoing and shunpoing until she couldn't breathe, not caring or knowing where she was going, until she fell defeatedly to her knees. When she stopped, she was kneeling on the bank of the river, her hands in the water. She realized that she was crying again, and wiped away the tears with her sleeve.

_I can't go on like this. _She thought weakly. _I can't. But I don't have a clue what to do. I'm so… afraid… _She pulled her knees to her chest and sat there for a minute before she stood up and started to walk away from the river. She couldn't think right now. The fear was still there, and her thoughts were a mess. She would think about it later.

"Right now," She mused, looking around, "I have to figure out where the hell I am."


	12. Chapter 11

Yo! Thanks 2 my bffl JumipaMistbringer 4 commenting. Luvs 3

Random thought: My house is like a musical. There are at least two people singing at all times. Kinda sad actually. (2 people= me and my sis :))

Chapter Eleven

Eight of the nine shinigami captains stood in two neat rows, save Yamamoto, who sat in his chair in front of them. They had no idea what this meeting was about. The summons had come suddenly and unexpectedly, but somehow all of them had made it to the meeting, save the eleventh squad captain, who never came anyway. Ukitake let out a small cough, and straightened his haori. He wasn't feeling his best that day, but he had come anyway.

"We are here too talk about two things. Firstly, we have a situation in the real world." Yamamoto said suddenly, calling the meeting to order. Everyone snapped to attention and listened as he continued. "As you know, we had a war between Aizen and us five years ago. Aizen created the arrancar to help his cause, and even though we defeated them, a problem still remains." He was silent for a moment, looking solemnly around at the rest of the captains. "There are many arrancar still alive, and they are growing restless."

"Arrancar still alive?" Kyoraku whistled. "Whoo, that's a problem." It made sense, though, and he wondered why they hadn't thought about that before. They wouldn't have fought and killed every single arrancar that Aizen had made; there were just too many. The substitute shinigami had fought with some ex-espada, and he wouldn't be surprised there were more of them, not to mention all the regular arrancar that weren't powerful enough to be involved in the main fights. However, put together, they could make a strong force.

"Why have we not dealt with this already?" Captain Kuchki asked slowly.

"They have only started acting up lately, and before that it didn't really occur to us that they could travel from Hueco Mundo to the real world without Aizen's help. But apparently we were wrong; their garganta is still fully functioning. They have begun showing up in the real world and causing havoc lately. It isn't anything really dangerous, but they are destroying things, catching things on fire, and the like. I believe that they are trying to draw us out. I'm not sure why. Their attacks are centered in Karakura Town, so we have the substitute shinigami on the case right now. As of now, he has been able to minimize damage done by them, but hasn't actually been able to fight or talk to any of them. They always run away before he gets a chance. I have decided that the best way to handle this is to let things go on as they are until a significant change happens. As it is right now, I'm not sure dispatching a team would actually help anything. Are there any objections?"

"No." Hitsugaya said after a long silence; Yamamoto nodded.

"As for the second thing… we need to find new captains. We have gone too long without them. The situation is becoming ridiculous; we have gone five years since finding any new talent worthy of becoming a captain. Captain Kuchki, your vice-captain knows bankai… do you think he could be a candidate for a captain position?"

"I do not." He answered bluntly.

"Does anybody else have any people they would like to nominate?' He was met with silence. "Well," He continued, "I want to make sure there is not any real talent among our ranks, or even out in the normal districts of the soul society, that we have missed while searching for new captains. You, captain-level shinigami, may recommend people who are not part of the Gotei 13 to take this test, though they must now bankai. People who are part of the Gotei 13 can simply volunteer to take this test. We will try to uncover new talent by testing as many people as we can, not just the ones we _know_ are powerful. This will take place in a month; you will be getting more information later." He stopped talking, and Komamura and Ukitake's minds started whirling. They were both thinking about the same thing; Sunny, her shunpo, and the fact that maybe, just maybe, she knew more than that. Even if she didn't, she definitely had potential.

As soon as the meeting ended, Ukitake walked straight over to Komamura with a benign smile.

"Captain Komamura." He smiled.

"Captain Ukitake."

"Do you have anyone from outside of the Gotei 13 in mind to take the test?" He asked curiously.

"Yes, actually." Komamura answered, but didn't elaborate.

"Well, that's good." He answered. "I do too. Do you remember that girl you met, Sunny, that one with the pink hair? I'm going to see if she is powerful enough to take the test. I know she can do shunpo, but I'm not sure if she can do anything else." He said, scratching the back of his head embarrassedly. Komamura was surprised that Ukitake had come up with the same idea as he had, but soon realized that it was a natural conclusion for anyone who knew she could do shunpo to come to. He was silent as Ukitake continued. "Actually, I have a favor to ask you…"

"A favor?"

"Yes, actually… Well, to tell the truth, I'm not sure she'll agree to take the test. She did say to you that she didn't want to become a shinigami, and I know her well enough to know that she's a bit of a free spirit. She seemed to like you, so… maybe if you came to help persuade her to take it, it might help… that is, if she is powerful enough to take the test in the first place."

Komamura realized that Ukitake had no clue that he and Sunny had met other than that one time, when he had been there too. He decided to enlighten him.

"Actually, I talked to her a bit after I first met her, when you were there. I'm not sure… she likes me…" He said hesitantly, thinking about how he she had swatted his hand away and told him not to touch her. The memory still hurt a bit, more than he would have expected it to. But then she had invited him to stop by, so he wasn't quite sure how she felt about him.

"Really? You know her beyond that one time?" Ukitake laughed. "Don't worry. I'm really not sure if she likes me or not either, and I've spent a significant amount of time with her. I think she likes you, though. She was leaning on your shoulder and everything, back when I was there…"

"She was caffeine jacked."

"So?"

"Well… I'm not sure her caffeine-jacked self was really thinking clearly…"

"Well, either way, I think our argument would be more convincing if there were two captains there, instead of just one."

"I think one is pretty convincing in general."

Ukitake laughed wryly. "Not to Sunny."

"I suppose you're right." Komamura agreed wearily.

* * *

"A-hah!" We found it! Ukitake exclaimed as Sunny's house came into sight. It had taken them most of the afternoon to find it; they had left sereitei to go see her right after the captain's meeting, but by the time they finally found it, the sky was turning a light shade of pink and the sun was beginning to sink towards the horizon. They walked up to the door and pushed it open to see Aiko standing in the front hallway, looking at them blankly.

"Oh… Captain Freeloader. Hi. Good to see you're not coughing up blood this time. And who're you?" She said, turning to Komamura.

"Fluffy!" Sunny exclaimed, poking her head out of the kitchen at the end of the hallway. "Hi!"

"Fluffy?" Ukitake asked, concealing a smile.

"I wouldn't be talking, Captain Freeloader." Komamura said, not looking at Ukitake.

"Ah. Touche." Ukitake grinned.


	13. Chapter 12

Yo! I'm back again! After a loooooooong break. I think this one was the longest so far. Luvs to all who reviewed, aka LupiLupus, wolfwriter101, and Shinsei Reimi (And yes, I totally agree with you. The story speed is frustrating me too, even though I'm the one writing it. I wrote the last chapter and was like… oh… shit… nothing happened.) Not much going on in this chapter, unfortunately… but a nice little Sunny/Komamura scene anyway! Another serious chapter. Next week we'll be getting into the funny stuff again :)

Random thought: I am the biggest nerd on the face of the planet. No, srsly. And I'm loving every minute of it.

Chapter Thirteen

Five minutes later, Aiko, Komamura, and Ukitake were all sitting awkwardly around the kitchen table. Sunny was whipping up something suspicious-looking on the other side of the kitchen, and Aiko was devising ways to get out of eating whatever she was making. She knew even better than the two captains that it would taste even worse than it looked. Meanwhile, Ukitake and Komamura were thinking about ways to bring up what they wanted to talk about.

"Here you go. Eat." Sunny said, putting a bowl full of a greenish-grey 1iquid in front of Aiko, Komamura, and Ukitake. They all stared at, it looking slightly frightened. Sunny didn't seem to notice. "So what are you guys here for? I mean, I'm glad to see you and all, but I can't imagine that captains have enough free time to just drop in like this." Sunny asked curiously.

"Ah, well, we have something we want to talk to you about." Ukitake said, scratching the back of his head.

"What?" She sat down next to Aiko.

"Well… hmm… how to put this. You can do shunpo, and since you can do that so easily without being a shinigami, it is quite possible that you may have high spiritual power. I—and hopefully Captain Komamura here as well, can help you harness that power. We want you to consider becoming a shinigami… well, actually, a shinigami captain."

Sunny froze and stared at Ukitake icily. She was clearly angry, but he didn't know why. Komamura looked on curiously, glad that he wasn't the one she was mad at, for some reason or another. Everything went silent.

"I will never—ever—become a shinigami. Ever." She said with conviction. Ukitake was taken aback; Komamura was quietly surprised. Neither one of them had expected that at all. Aiko hadn't expected it either; she looked up at her adopted sister in confusion.

"Sunny?" Aiko asked quietly. In one angry movement, she shoved her chair away from the table and stood up. Without making eye contact with anybody, she stalked out the door, slamming it behind her. The three of them stared after her, surprised and confused.

"She doesn't seem to like the idea very much." Komamura noted after a few seconds.

"Maybe it's…" Ukitake turned his eyes towards the table. "Maybe I brought up some bad memories. Her mom left her to become a shinigami, anyway… maybe she feels that… she'll be leaving Aiko the same way or something." He said, almost to herself.

"Her mom abandoned her?" Komamura asked quietly. Ukitake looked up.

"I said that out loud?"

"Um… yes."

"I-Idiot." Aiko stuttered. "She's so stupid. Does she really think that she'll be abandoning me? I'm following her, that stupid idiot. If she becomes a shinigami, then I'll become one too. I'm not that easy to get rid of."

"Aiko…" Ukitake said gently.

Komamura stood up, looking back towards the door. "I'll be right back." He said as he walked down the hallway. He had to duck to get out the door. Behind him, Ukitake attempted to calm down the livid Aiko.

"Bring her back, okay?!" Ukitake called out. Komamura turned and nodded, then sniffed the air, searching for Sunny's scent. He found it quickly, and shunpoed to where she was. She hadn't gone too far. He appeared a few feet behind her; she was sitting on a bridge her feet dangling over the edge. Her toes just touched the river, and she was completely still. There was no one else in sight.

"Sunny." There was a long silence before she spoke.

"Sajin." Her voice was calm, but sad.

"Are you afraid of abandoning Aiko if you were to become a shinigami?" He asked gently, getting right to the point.

"Yeah."

"Are you going to give me anything other than monosyllabic answers?"

"Most probably not." She said, a hint of a sad smile in her voice. At least she hadn't lost her sense of humor.

"Sunny… Aiko won't be abandoned that easily. She's going to follow you if you become a shinigami."

"But even then I'll abandon her, leave her behind. I'm stronger than her, Sajin. I don't know if you know that, but I do. I'm so… strong." She pulled her knees up to her chest.

"Sunny, you won't leave her behind. I don't know you that well, I'll admit, but… you're not really the kind of person to leave anyone behind." He said calmly. He heard her laugh quietly.

"You're funny, Sajin. You're always so calm, and you seem like you always know exactly what you mean. I wish I was like that."

"You are, Sunny."

"That's the thing. I'm not. I don't even know what I want. I don't want to stay here, but I don't want to become a shinigami. I want to protect Aiko, no matter what, though."

"To protect something… that's what everything is about, isn't it?"

"Hmm?"

"Everybody has something they want to protect. That's why we fight. You need to protect Aiko… that's why you should become a shinigami, Sunny. So you can be strong for her."

"To protect…" Sunny mused. "I've never heard that theory before. It's interesting." She paused. "What do you protect, Sajin?"

"I haven't found it yet."

"You—then why do you fight?" Sunny exclaimed, finally turning around. The sun silhouetted her, and Komamura could barely see her face, save her curious, sparkling eyes. His eyes smiled, and didn't talk for a moment. It was confusing to him—he didn't quite understand why, but those eyes just made him happy. Those inquisitive, bright eyes.

"So I can find what it is I need to protect."

Sunny looked at him for a long moment, then smiled brightly. "I don't get you, Sajin." She admitted. "We're nothing alike. You think things out, and you're so kind. I wish I could be like you. You're so... nice. I don't really know how to describe it."

"Thank you."

Sunny stood up, brushing the dust off her skirt with a thoughtful smile. "Sajin." She said, cocking her head to one side with a smile. "I'm going to become a shinigami. I'm going to protect Aiko… and if you're lucky, I'll protect you as well. Ukitake too. But you have to help me. Help me figure out… my own power." She looked worried for a moment, but the expression passed quickly.

"I'm glad to help you." He said. It was true.


	14. Chapter 13

Hey, I'm back again! I was so happy this afternoon… by some miracle, I had no homework. I have a test tomorrow, but whatever… screw that! I'm gonna write!

Thnx 2 Shinsei Reimei and Kira440 for reviewing :P u guys rock

Random thought: I find my spell-check very entertaining. If I listened to it, this is what some of the character's names and random Bleach terms would look like:

Komamura: Kookaburra

Shunpo: Shampoo

Aiko: Alike

Ukitake: Sukiyaki

Chapter Thirteen

Aiko sat in a tree above Sunny, who was leaning against its trunk; Sunny yawned. The sun was just coming up over the horizon, turning the sky a light coral pink. It was a crisp morning, and both Sunny and Aiko were cold. The two of them were at the edge of a wide green field at the near the mountains surrounding the main metropolis; with Sunny carrying Aiko and jumping across the rooftops, it had taken them about a half-hour to get there.

"I can't believe you're actually up this early." Aiko giggled. Sunny shot her a dark look, and yawned again.

"It's not like I had a choice." She said through the yawn. "I couldn't very well ditch when I already said I would accept their training, or however the hell they described it… But did it have to be at six o'clock in the freaking morning!?" Sunny muttered. "Boy, am I going to give them a piece of my mind. Six o'clock, you've got to be kidding me. Aiko, how are you not tired? And wait, why are you out here in the first place?!"

"I'm here to laugh at you, of course." Aiko said matter-of-factly. Sunny sighed. Just then, the two of them heard Ukitake's abnormally cheerful voice.

"Good morning, you two!" Aiko and Sunny turned towards the voice, Aiko with a bright smile, and Sunny with a grimace. Ukitake and Komamura were walking into the field. Ukitake was waving happily, and Komamura just walked slowly, expressionless.

"Good morning, Fluffy, Captain Freeloader…" Aiko said; as she spoke, Sunny disappeared, moving to fast for her eyes to see. "Oh." She said, surprised.

"Huh?" Ukitake said, seeing Sunny disappear. A moment later, she reappeared, right in front of him. With a growl, she lifted her leg up high and side-kicked him in the head. He fell to the ground, looking up at Sunny in surprise and rubbing where she had kicked. Komamura looked down at him, and hen back at Sunny impassively, though a hint of an amused grin was sparkling in his eyes.

"What did I do?" Ukitake asked confusedly.

"It's six o'clock!" Sunny moaned. "It's way too early! I'm tired, I'm an emotional train wreck because of it, and I—" She took a step back and composed herself. After a few seconds, she pointed one finger at the still sitting Ukitake. "Am going to take it out on you."

"Ehhh?" Ukitake exclaimed.

"So be prepared." Sunny flipped her hair and turned around, walking back across the field towards Aiko. Ukitake stared after her, his mouth open. Silently, Komamura looked down at him. He was clearly amused, and suppressing laughter.

"Good luck." Komamura said bluntly, walking away from the other captain. Ukitake sighed heavily. It was going to be an _interesting_ day, to say the least.

A few minutes later, the four of them were gathered around the tree Aiko was sitting in. Ukitake was still rubbing the side of his head; even though Sunny had no formal training, that had _hurt_.

"So what kind of training have you dragged me out here for this fine morning?" Sunny asked, the question not pointed at anyone in particular.

"As you know, we want to nominate you for the captain exam. But before we can do that, we have to help you find your zanpaktou." Komamura said slowly. Sunny nodded slowly and respectfully.

"Why do you only abuse me?' Ukitake said indignantly. Sunny turned toward him.

"You're more fun to abuse than he is." She stated simply and then turned back to the obviously amused Komamura. Ukitake opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it. There wasn't much he could say to that.

"So." Komamura continued. "Your zanpaktou—because it is more than likely that you have one, since you can do shunpo so well—is part of your soul. To find it, you must look inside yourself."

"Meaning?" Sunny asked, yawning again.

"You have to meditate."

"Meditate?" Sunny asked skeptically.

"Yes."

"So you dragged me out here at six o'clock in the morning…" She glared at Ukitake. "To _meditate_?"

"Sorry!" Ukitake said, raising his hands defensively.

"Why the hell did I have to get myself mixed up with you shinigami lot? You all…" she sighed, and slid down the tree trunk to the ground. "So I have to meditate? Simple enough, I suppose."

"Concentrate. Breathe in, out. In, out. Relax. Actually… Aiko, you can do this too. You've found your zanpaktou, right? Doing this can help you strengthen your bond." Ukitake said kindly.

"Really?" Aiko said; Ukitake nodded. Aiko closed her eyes, and began to follow Ukitake's instructions. Below her, Sunny did the same. Ukitake and Komamura watched them relax, jut sitting there. it struck Komamura suddenly that he had never seen Sunny look this peaceful. He allowed himself a small smile as he watched her. As Ukitake looked at Sunny, he smiled as well, though for a slightly different reason. He just found it funny that someone like Sunny could ever look peaceful at all.

Sunny let herself relax, wondering what she would find. She let her thoughts drain from her mind, and began to count her breaths. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. After a while, even her counting faded from her mind as she accidentally fell asleep. She was tired, after all.

Suddenly, she found herself on the black hill. Yoru no Futago's hill. She froze, and inside her dream, her eyes snapped open wide. Outside, Ukitake and Komamura just saw her twitch and curl her hands into fists. Yoru no Futago were there already, standing on top of the hill together.

"You called?" They said quietly.

"What?" Sunny gasped. They began to walk towards her.

"Well, of course you must have realized by now who we are."

"No, who—"

"We're your zanpaktou, of course."

"What?" Sunny choked out. _They_ were her zanpaktou? How could that be? Zanpaktou were supposed to help their shinigami, not scare them. No, that was impossible. They couldn't be her zanpaktou. They walked up to Sunny with twin smiles, their eyes cold.

"You don't believe us… let us prove It." they smiled. "As your zanpaktou, we know everything about you. We know that your mother abandoned you, that you don't want to trust anyone because you're scared that you'll leave you…"

"No, It's not true… you can't be…"

"We are." They took another step forward and each touched a white hand to her face; their skin was cold, and Sunny froze in fear. She wanted to scream, but the sound wouldn't come out. Suddenly, a flood of images ran through her mind; images from her childhood—there was her mother, laughing, there was baby Aiko.

Outside her dream, Sunny fell over from her sitting position, and began to grimace, though her eyes were still closed.

"Sunny?" Ukitake said worriedly. "Sunny, what's…" He kneeled down quickly, putting his hand on her shoulder. He recoiled almost immediately; when he had touched her, a strong shock had passed through his hand, like she was charged with electricity. Slowly, as he rubbed his hand, white reiatsu began to leak out of her, drifting up slowly. Komamura kneeled down next to her quickly, but he didn't touch her.

"What is this?" Komamura whispered anxiously; Ukitake shook his head. He didn't know either. "Sunny." Komamura said under his breath.

Inside the dream, Sunny shook her head, shoving Yoru no Futago's hands away. "No, no." She said desperately, not wanting to believe what they were saying. They took their hands away, and sadness suddenly flashed across their faces.

"I wish you would hurry up and realize it." They said softly. "It would be so much easier that way. For you and for me." Sunny froze again, but this time for a different reason. She was still afraid, but she considered their words. What they were saying did make sense, but it was hard to believe. She looked at them, and opened her mouth to speak; but before she got the chance, the world started to fade away. She reached her hand out to them as they faded away, and she found herself looking at the dirt on the field. She inhaled sharply and closed her eyes tightly closed again, curling herself up into a ball.

"Sunny!" Komamura and Ukitake exclaimed simultaneously. But she couldn't hear them; she had fallen asleep again, though this time it was a peaceful sleep. Ukitake put one hand gently on her shoulder; this time, it didn't shock him.

"Sunny." He said quietly. He was glad she was okay, at least to a certain extent. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her and picked her up. She felt so… small. Like something he could protect. He smiled softly as he realized that she was lighter than she looked. Komamura looked down at her softly.

"Sunny! Is she…" Aiko exclaimed. Somewhere along the line, she had realized what was going on. Clumsily, she jumped out of the tree.

"Aiko." Ukitake said with a smile. "Let's go. I'm going to take her to the fourth squad, just to make sure she's alright."

Aiko nodded quickly, taking hold of Sunny's hand. "What… happened?" Aiko asked quietly.

"I'm not sure." Ukitake admitted, looking down at Sunny's now-peaceful face. "I'm really not sure."


	15. Chapter 14

hehe hi again.

Thanx 2 Shinsei Reimei 4 reviewing, as always… and I think you'll be surprised. Her zanpaktou is a bit different from what you're imagining. But still pretty durn kewl!

Random thought: This chapter was hard to write. I don't know why… it just was. And I'm not really sure I liked how it turned out. But I don't know how else to get to the point I want to get to… but anyway, enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen

Sunny woke up with the sun streaming into her eyes; that was strange. Her own room had no windows. Blinking, she sat up and looked around, trying to figure out where she was. When the sun stopped blinding her, she saw she was in a small, clean room that was most definitely not hers. No one else was there. She assumed that wherever she was, she had been taken there by one of the two shinigami captains. She remembered all too well what had happened on the field earlier, with Yoru no Futago. But after she fainted, she had no clue what happened.

"Where…" She muttered, flopping back down onto the bed. She had a huge headache, and she was tired. Emotionally and physically. She didn't know whether or not to believe what Yoru no Futago had told her, about how they were her zanpaktou. It was hard to believe, but it did make a certain amount of sense. It would definitely explain why they were inside her head all the time. Slowly, she curled herself into a ball, thinking.

Suddenly, from outside the room, a loud crash resonated. Sunny sat straight up and looked toward the door, wondering what on earth was going on.

"Oops, sorry, sorry!" She heard Aiko's voice exclaim. Sunny giggled. Of course it was Aiko. She heard a few voices mumble in return, but she wasn't sure what they were saying. Aiko opened the door slowly, peeking around to look at Sunny. Once she saw she was awake, though, all her meekness vanished. She gasped happily and ran over to the bed.

"Sunny! You're awake!" Aiko squealed. "I thought you would just sleep forever. And I couldn't really stay in here all the time, because I needed to sleep too, and boy, have _you_ been snoring. The snoring seems to have been increased somehow. It was bad before, but _now_…"

"I am going to ignore that comment about the snoring." Sunny rubbed Aiko's head absentmindedly. "How long have I been out, exactly?"

"Three days."

"What?! Three days!?"

"Yeah…" Aiko shrugged. "I guess you were tired."

"That's so weird. I mean, I fainted, but I didn't think I'd be out for that long."

Behind Aiko, the door opened again, and this time Komamura walked through the door. "The reason you fainted was a bit complicated, and that was why you were out for so long." He had to bend down to get through; he kneeled down next to Sunny's bed, and he was still taller than Aiko. Sunny grinned.

"Hey, Fluffy. What's this about complicated reasons?"

"Well, you fainted not because your body was tired, but because your soul was tired. Even though the shinigami here at the fourth squad did their best, that kind of tiredness takes a bit of time to recover from."

"My soul… was tired? Why?"

Komamura looked into Sunny's eyes seriously. "I don't know."

Sunny looked down and frowned. "I don't know why this time was so different from the rest, why I was so tired this time… I think, maybe… it's because I was calling them, not the other way around."

"What? Them… are _they_ your zanpaktou? You've seen them before?"

Sunny looked down and frowned. "I guess… they're my zanpaktou. I can't come up with another explanation as to why they're always there. And yes, I've seen them before. A lot. Do you remember when we saw each other on the roof, and I was…" Sunny sighed. "Yeah. They scare me. I know they shouldn't, but they do. Whenever I'm around them, I'm so scared I can't even move."

Komamura looked at Sunny thoughtfully. "That's strange. Did they ever actually given you a reason to fear them?"

"Well, yes… they threatened me… but I was scared of them before that."

"I've never heard about anything like that happening. That's very strange." Komamura looked over Sunny's head out the window, thinking.

Aiko looked closely at Sunny. She had grown up with her; Sunny was like a sister and mother to her at the same time. She had always been there, always so strong. It had seemed like she never had any problems, that she just floated through life without worries. But that wasn't true. Sunny had problems, but she just didn't share them with her. Aiko realized this, and looked down sadly.

"Things aren't going to stay the same, are they?" Aiko said quietly.

"Huh?" Sunny said, looking at her sister.

"So many things are happening. I've found my shinigami power, and you, Sunny, are going to learn how to control yours. I have faith in you. But once you do master it, you might have a chance to be a captain. We probably won't be able to go back to our house. We'll have to stay here, with the rest of the shinigami. Everything is changing."

Sunny smiled softly at Aiko. "No." She admitted. "Things can't stay the same."

Suddenly, all three of them heard the soft tinkling of a bell as a black butterfly flew through the open window. Komamura reached his hand out, and it landed on his fingers; he froze, and his ears twitched, as if he was listening to something.

"What is that?" Aiko asked in surprise.

"A butterfly." Sunny said dryly. "He's holding a butterfly."

Komamura didn't answer for a few seconds. "A messenger." He told Aiko eventually.

"It's a freaking butterfly." Sunny said.

"A messenger?" Aiko asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry, I have to go." He stood up, his head nearly touching the ceiling. His eyes were dark, as if thinking about something unpleasant.

"Where are you going?" Sunny asked, her eyes suddenly serious.

"I have… orders that I need to take care of."

"Are those orders… dangerous?" Sunny said slowly, swinging herself around so she was sitting on the side of the bed. She and Komamura looked at each other for a moment before he answered. He found himself without words as he looked into her eyes, as if he had suddenly forgotten how to speak.

_She… she's really… _he thought, but wasn't even sure how to end that sentence inside his head. Sunny was Sunny. He couldn't really describe her. He wondered furiously why he couldn't seem to make words come out of his mouth; she wasn't anything special. Just another girl. But even as he thought that to himself, he knew it was a lie. Sunny was different, somehow, though he couldn't pinpoint why.

"I suppose." He said after a long pause, breaking eye contact.

Sunny kept looking at him solemnly, but eventually she looked away with a small laugh. "You don't let people in, do you?" She mused. "You're just like Captain Freeloader that way. Always… alone. You two are alike."

Komamura was silent. Slowly, he turned away from her and walked over to the door. He opened it, and began to walk out, until Sunny called after him. Her voice was thick with her dry, sarcastic wit. Even though what she was saying was serious, she sounded like she was just about to laugh.

"Don't die, okay, Fluffy?"

Komamura smiled. "I won't." he agreed as he walked out, closing the door behind him. Sitting on the side of the bed, Sunny grinned and turned to Aiko.

"Well then… shall we go?" She said impishly.

"Huh?"

"We're following him, of course."

"Wait—why? That's not our business! We can't just make decisions like that! We're not even shinigami… Sunny, what exactly are you thinking?"

"Back when… my mother was still around, she told me something. She said to follow my instincts. I feel like… I have to follow him, or something bad is going to happen."

"Sunny, so you're going to essentially _stalk _him, because you have a _feeling_ something bad is going to happen?"

"Sure. It can't hurt, can it?"

"Sunny, that's stupid. Yes, it can hurt. I'm just going to say it."

"I know, I know. But following my instincts has always stood me in good stead. I'm not going to stop now. I'm not asking you to come with me. Actually, it's better if you don't. If I'm right, it's going to be dangerous."

"Sunny, why are you doing this? Komamura is a captain, he can handle this better than you. Face it, Sunny, you're being stupid." Aiko's eyes became hard as she looked at Sunny. Sunny raised her eyebrows, taken aback.

"Aiko…"

Aiko sighed, kneeling down on the ground. She was silent. Sunny looked down at her for a moment, then smiled gently.

"You're coming with me, aren't you?" Sunny asked quietly.

"Well, of course. Someone needs to take care of you." Aiko muttered.

"Thanks for the enthusiasm." Sunny remarked.

"You're welcome."


	16. Chapter 15

Ok… finally goat another chapter out. God, I am not looking forward to this week… this was a great de-stressor, actually. We get to see a bit more of Sunny's trickery this time!

Random thought: My house is so Christmassy right now! It makes me happy!

Chapter Fifteen

Sunny jumped out her window lithely, landing on the ground without any noise. Aiko followed behind her, a little less gracefully but just as quietly. Akaichame was strapped at her waist, and she held onto its hilt nervously as the two of them ran across the empty fourth squad yard.

"This is the worst idea ever." Aiko said, mostly to herself. "If we get caught, we'll be in so much trouble. I doubt they want us just running around without supervision. And once they realize we're gone, they'll all chase after us. And even if we figure out where Fluffy went, we probably won't be able to follow him without him noticing us."

"Don't worry, don't worry! It'll all work out." Sunny said lightly. "Somehow."

Aiko sighed and shrugged. There was nothing to be done about it. When Sunny got an idea in her head, she never let go of it. "Where are we going, anyway?" Aiko sighed. They reached the fence, and Sunny grabbed Aiko around the waist. Sunny jumped up, and landed on the top of the wall lightly. Aiko let out a small yelp, and clutched Sunny's sleeve tightly. Shifting Aiko slightly, Sunny began to leap across the rooftops in a straight, sure line, as if she knew exactly where she was going.

"We're following Komamura." Sunny said. "Didn't we already discuss this?"

"No, I know that. But where is he?" Aiko glanced around confusedly. Komamura was nowhere in sight, and she had doubts about Sunny's sense of direction. She yelped again as Sunny landed on an especially tall roof.

"Well, I can sort of _feel_ him…" Sunny said, raising her eyebrows as she struggled to explain. "Like… an instinct, sort of… he's moving fast. He seems to be in a hurry, for some reason."

"You're following more_ feelings_."

"Well, yes."

Aiko sighed again, and clutched tighter onto Sunny as she leaped forward, looking at their surroundings. They were heading in the general direction of the cliff that stuck out in the middle of Seireitei, rising tall up in the sky. As they leapt forward, Aiko wondered what they were heading into. Sunny didn't really care.

"What now?" Aiko whispered; Sunny shushed her, putting a finger to her lips. The two of them jumped on top of the cliff in the middle of Seireitei and crouched down, only halfway hidden by the ruins of the Sokyoku, though somehow they had not been noticed yet. At the edge of the cliff was a small gate, glowing white. In front of it stood Komamura and Ukitake. Apparently both of them were involved in this mission; Sunny's bad feeling about the whole matter doubled quickly, and her stomach dropped. Sunny saw the captains exchange greetings, though she couldn't hear them. A few moments later, the two of them stepped into the gate and vanished. Sunny stood up slowly, looking to make sure there was no one else around.

"Sunny, I don't think is good. We're breaking tons of laws right now." Aiko pleaded one last time. Sunny sighed and turned toward her.

"Aiko, Aiko." She said, shaking her head slowly. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Missing in action, actually. Can we please not do this?"

"No! Come on." Sunny pulled Aiko to her feet. Her voice was light, but Aiko could sense her anxiousness underneath it, and quieted. Sunny was serious. The two of them began to jog over to the gate, but stopped short when a voice shouted out from behind them.

"What are you two doing?" Sunny turned and saw a tall woman with ginger hair, standing gracefully behind them. She hadn't even heard her come up; on her sleeve, she saw a badge that she assumed meant that this woman was fairly highly ranked. She was pretty and… well endowed. Very well endowed, Sunny thought with some jealousy. An excuse popped up into her head, and without thinking about it, she blurted it out.

"Running away from my fan club." Sunny stood up tall, composing herself. Casually, she shook her long pink hair. "They can be so annoying." Next to her, Aiko resisted the urge to laugh. Sure, Sunny was pretty, but her personality kept her from having many fans.

"Oh, I know!" The woman's eyes lit up. "I know exactly what you mean. I like my fan club most of the time, actually. But there are just those days…"

"Yes, I totally agree! I mean, it's great most of the time, but today…" Sunny groaned, and Aiko did laugh a little; she quickly disguised it as a cough. "Today I just can't _take _it."

The redhead bounced forward, taking Sunny's hands with a grin. "My name is Rangiku Matsumoto. Pleased to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too! I'm Kioko Hayashi." It wouldn't hurt to give her real name, since everybody called her Sunny anyway.

"What squad, what squad? Are you ranked?" Sunny realized suddenly that Rangiku thought she was a shinigami, since her kimono was black and looked slightly like the shinigami uniform.

"Ninth squad. Not ranked…" Sunny shrugged, coming up with something random.

"Ooh! Hisagi's squad!"

"Uhh… yeah."

"So, where were you planning on running?" Rangiku asked curiously.

"To be honest… I know it's not allowed, but I wanted to go through that gate." Sunny looked ashamed. "Me and my sister here." She said, putting a hand on Aiko's shoulder.

"Well, why not?" Rangiku shrugged, then laughed. "Rules were meant to be broken, anyway. You'll have a heck of a lot of explaining and paperwork to do later, but it should be a good vacation, as long as you don't cause any trouble. I'll cover for you. Well, I heard there was a bit of captain-level fighting going on over there in the real world, Karakura Town—that's where that gate leads—but you can avoid it. No biggie, no biggie." Rangiku giggled, and Sunny felt the urge to raise her eyebrows. Really? Avoiding captain level fights was no biggie? Rangiku had a strange of what that meant. Despite that, though, Sunny felt herself warming to her. She was a funny one.

"Really? You'll cover for me?" Sunny gasped, looking grateful.

"Sure, sure. You two go." Rangiku waved as they turned and ran up to the gate.

"Well, here we go!" Sunny grinned to Aiko, and stopped just in front of the gate. Aiko blinked and looked up.

"Things are really about to change, aren't they?" Aiko whispered.

"Yup." Sunny agreed, her smile becoming a bit softer. "Once we get into the gate, I'm going to try to… connect more with Yoru no Futago. Come to an agreement with them. Without their help, I really can't do much."

"Are you sure?" Aiko asked, concerned.

"I've never been more sure." Sunny grinned, and leaped into the gate, Aiko just behind her.

"Have fun!" Rangiku waved and grinned.


	17. Chapter 16

AAAHHHH!!!!

ok sorry guys I TOTALLY just forgot to thank u for reviewing last time, I know I'm probably overreacting, but it has been bothering me. Soooo….

for reviewing ch 14, thank you:

Kira440, Wolfwriter101, Shinsei Reimei, and Gray-Man rules

and for ch 15, Kira 440 (sorry about the time between between updates!)

Random thought: I am totally brain-dead right now from exams, so I apologize in advance for the suckishness of this chapter :)

Chapter Sixteen

The first thing Sunny noticed when she jumped through the gate was that they were standing in a hallway of sorts, the walls seemed to be purple, and… they were moving. She stopped and stared for a moment before shaking her head and started to run after Aiko, who hadn't stopped. This probably was the strangest place she had ever been, but now was not the time to dwell on that. She started to run again, and noticing that the 'hallway' was extremely straight, she called out to Aiko.

"Aiko!" She shouted; Aiko turned back.

"What?"

"I'm going to… sort of… meditate while running, and get in contact with Yoru no Futago. If I start to run into the walls, whack me on the head or something. Wake me up."

Aiko giggled, but the laughter was strained. Once they had entered the severed world, the reality of the situation had hit her. "Okay." She agreed.

Sunny closed her eyes, making sure that she kept running. Once they were closed, she let her mind relax. _Yoru no Futago. _She thought slowly._ Are you there? _

_ We are here. _Fear struck her suddenly as the blackness she saw faded into her inner world, that black hill. Yoru no Futago stood close to her solemnly, and she suddenly felt fear so intense she couldn't breathe. She stared at the two of them for a long moment, speechless.

Then something clicked inside her.

Things could not go on like that.

"Screw it." She growled under her breath. Digging her nails into her palms, she stood up straight and stared them in the eyes, repressing the scream she wanted to let loose. "Screw it all." She said louder.

In front of her, Yoru no Futago began to smile.

* * *

Kari Leonida looked over the view below her with amusement. She had become the leader of the remaining Arrancar after the war. It made sense, since she was the strongest left, and she had only grown stronger in the time after the war. If she had lived during the war, she would have most likely been an Espada. Vainly, she flipped her long dark hair back over her shoulder. Her dress was short and strapless, and she wore tall white boots; she was confident about her looks as well as her power. Her zanpaktou floated at her side; she herself floated far above Karakura town and the fights that were happening there, the two of them. She was invisible to all of them, shinigami and Arrancar alike—one of her many talents. She giggled maliciously and leaned over, looking down at the battles.

She had sent two fairly strong Arrancar to fight the shinigami captains. She had actually called more Arrancar to what she knew would be the scene of a battle, but had let most of them go back to Hueco Mundo when she realized how few people soul society had sent. The two that were still fighting didn't know she was still there, watching them. She had known that Soul Society would send someone powerful, so her people had to be able to match their strength. After all, even though up until now she and her group of Arrancar had only been causing little bits of havoc, their last little piece of mischief had been a bit more serious. They had recently killed a human civilian, something that soul Society could not simply ignore like their mischief before, and, as expected, the shinigami had responded by sending some of their strongest to get rid of her and her small army. She was done waiting for the soul society to make the first big move. She had waited for the right moment, when the substitute shinigami was out of town with his fiends on a class trip, and she had moved. She had been impatient, and she had started the war.

Honestly, she had expected the shinigami to put up more of a fight.

True, the half-human canine captain was holding his own against the Arrancar she had sent to fight him, a young man named Lazaro Undine. They seemed pretty well matched, but neither one of them had released their zanpaktou or resurrection, respectively. It was hard to tell what would happen when that happened; Lazaro had a very strong resurrection, but she was sure this captain's release was nothing to sniff at, either. It was going to be an interesting and close battle, she could already tell, even though it was just beginning.

The fight between the white-haired captain and the Arrancar Sarai Holora, however, seemed slightly less even. At the moment, the captain was kneeling down in the air, holding his throat and coughing while Sarai looked on. They had only just started to fight, and he seemed to already be out for the count.

Kari shook her head and scoffed. Either the shinigami were weaker than she had expected, or she and her followers were stronger than she had ever imagined.

* * *

Far below her, Sarai looked over the man that was supposed to be her opponent with distain. She had been expecting this captain to put up a good fight, but he seemed to be nothing but a pushover. She had only touched blades with him three times before he completely collapsed, coughing and hacking as if he was choking. There was blood coming out of his mouth, too; not that she cared. She sighed and looked away from him, disappointed. She had been hoping for a good fight, a good chance to try her abilities, but it looked like she wasn't about to get one.

* * *

"You're my zanpaktou." Sunny nodded to Yoru no Futago. "Right?"

"Of course." They replied; fear rose up within her again, but she fought it back with anger. She wasn't about to let it get the best of her—not anymore.

"Will you…" She hesitated. "Let me call you?"

"Well, of course." They laughed, in perfect unison. "That's what we've been waiting for this entire time."

"You'll help me?" Sunny gasped in disbelief.

"Well, of course. We're part of your soul, after all."

Sunny grinned.

* * *

Out of the corner of her eye, Kari Leonida saw a gate from the soul society open, higher still than her. She turned to it quickly, wondering who it could possibly be. She didn't think that the gotei 13 would send any more shinigami to Karakura town, not after that had already sent two captains.

Out of the white gate jumped a young girl with wide eyes and dark hair, wearing a much too big blue kimono and carrying a sword in one hand. Kari became confused; why would the soul society send a little girl to the real world? It didn't make sense, and she didn't even appear to be a shinigami.

Then the second girl leaped out from the gate. She was tall and graceful, with long pink hair and a short black kimono. It didn't really look like a shinigami uniform, though, and Kari wondered how the two of them had gotten through to the real world. The second girl didn't even seem to have a zanpaktou. Her eyes were shut closed; both of them fell straight down, down towards the fighting.

As they fell, the pink haired girl opened her eyes; and slowly, a smile began to develop on her face.

"Tremble, Yoru no Futago." She laughed.


	18. Chapter 17

heyheyhey! I'm back again… thanks to Wolfwriter101, LuvTwilight4-ever, Sajintmm, and Vivvy09. I luv u all!

Sadly, this chapter was a bit rushed, and not much happens in it… but it's the start of a nice fight, anyway!

Random thought: I LOVE Christmas. It's the most wonderful time of the year… (Goes off singing)

Chapter Seventeen

Kari gasped as the pink—haired girl spoke, and stood up suddenly. She was forced back down again, though as a blast of dark red reiatsu washed out from the girl, a blast so powerful that it knocked her backwards. The girl was still laughing darkly, and Kari suddenly began to feel scared.

The other girl, the one in the blue kimono, landed in midair and looked up at her friend as reiatsu swirled around her. Suddenly, all of the reiatsu swirled inward, covering the girl's hands. Kari, without noticing it, forgot to breathe. There was something so completely ominous about the whole thing. The pink-haired girl had stopped in air, and was looking down at the fights below her.

The reiatsu vanished suddenly, leaving the girl there standing on air, with her zanpaktou in both hands and her eyes closed again. They were surprisingly simple—they were a pair of circles of blades with a bar through the middle of each one for her to hold on to. She stood quietly, so quietly that it was eerie. The fights below had stopped and all four of the fighters were looking up at her with wonder. Her laughing had stopped, and she looked completely calm.

"How… can she be so calm?" Kari murmured. Those zanpaktou, as cool as they looked, didn't seem like they would be good to fight with. It didn't look like you could really block with them; blades would just slide off them.

Kari gasped.

Unless… she had no need to block.

That was the only explanation Kari could come up with. It didn't make sense that she would be so confident with such inconvenient zanpaktou unless she had an advantage like that. Maybe they had some ability that eliminated the need to block. Or perhaps she was so fast that her opponents never had a chance to fight back. Kari forgot to breathe again. This girl was dangerous; she could feel it in the air.

"Sunny!" Komamura called. Sunny didn't look down. "What are you doing here?" He shouted.

"I'm here to help." She said, not opening her eyes.

"Sunny, it's dangerous! Go home!"

"Sajin, I know it's dangerous. I'm not afraid." She said calmly.

Komamura took a step back. "What?" He asked quietly.

"I'm stronger than you think, Sajin. I can feel it… the power… this power. I can feel it, inside me." She smiled softly. "I'm not afraid anymore."

"Sunny—" Komamura began to exclaim, but was interrupted as the arrancar Ukitake was fighting, Sarai Holora, burst out laughing.

"Wonderful!" Sarai cackled. "I've got someone to fight now, not just slaughter."

"You're as bad as Zaraki…" Ukitake muttered, struggling to his feet. "Come—" He began, but started to cough and fell to his knees again. He put his hands to his mouth, and when he pulled them away, they were covered in blood.

"Jushiro." Sunny said sadly. "Stay there. Rest. You're in no condition to be fighting right now."

"But I'm always—always so useless…" He looked down. "I can't always depend on others…"

"Why not?" Sunny asked. "Or at least why can't you depend on me? I depend on you, you know. You're my friend."

"You're not strong enough, Sunny, to be here. At least not yet. Let me take care of this."

Sunny's eyes became steely as she stared down at Jushiro. "No. This time it's my turn to be the strong one." She said slowly.

"Sunny, go back!"

Sunny shook her head slowly. "Jushiro… I said this to Sajin, and I'll say it again. I'm not afraid. I'm more powerful than you would ever think. So, Just step back. Let me handle this."

"Sunny…"

"Tch." Sarai scoffed, crossing her arms. "Not that this isn't touching and all, but can we get on with the fight, please?"

"Of course." Gracefully, Sunny shunpoed down to stand ten feet in front of Sarai.

"Sunny!" Ukitake exclaimed. Fear gripped him. If she fought his battle, who knew what could happen? She wasn't strong enough, wasn't ready. True, Sarai wasn't very strong, but neither was Sunny.

"Jushiro." Komamura said sharply. "This is her fight now." Ukitake went silent and frowned. A few seconds later, he looked up at Sunny again. Komamura was right. This _was_ her fight now.

"So, kid. What's your name?" Sarai asked.

"Sunny." Sunny sad, picking up her normal sarcastic tone. "Pleased to meet cha."

"You—are you mocking me?" Sarai leaned forward and growled.

"Nope." Sunny put her weight on one leg and grinned.

"Why you—you!" Sarai screamed and ran at Sunny, who frowned. Time seemed to slow down as Sarai came at her. For a moment, Sunny looked scared, but that disappeared quickly as her eyes became icy. As Sarai came at her with her sword first, Sunny stepped elegantly to the side and shoved an elbow into Sarai's head, who fell down through the air a few feet, cursing. The entire thing happened incredibly quickly.

Sarai spit and looked up at Sunny. "Is that your zanpaktou's power?" She snarled. "Enhanced speed?"

"Where'd you get that silly idea?" Sunny giggled icily. "That's my normal speed."

Sarai suppressed a gasp and clutched her sword tightly, her hand shaking. Sunny was undoubtedly more dangerous than she had thought. Cautiously, she stood up, dropping into a defensive position. This was going to be harder than she had expected. Maybe she had just been better off with the sick captain.

No, no, that was wrong.

Sarai gasped. That hesitation—that fear—that wasn't her. Those weren't her own feelings. But that realization only made her more scared, and she took a step backward.

"What are you doing to me!" Sarai screamed hoarsely. "What is this?!"

"So you finally realized. Took you long enough."

"What is… what is this?"

"This is my zanpaktou's power, sweetie." Sunny grinned. "You see, fear is just another chemical reaction in the brain that can be controlled."

"You…" Sarai's voice trailed off.

"That's right. I hold sway over fear itself."


	19. Chapter 18

Holy. Crap. I haven't gotten a chapter it in over a month, maybe two. That's freaking sad. I will try to be better, more reliable… on the bright side, I am almost done with my book! This chapter is a nice, action-packed one, too…

Thx to all reviewers!

Hioni

vivvy09

LuvAnime4-ever

wolfwriter101

TsukiShrio626

Chapter Eighteen

"Get. The. Hell. Out. Of. My. Head!" Sarai yelled hoarsely at Sunny, who only smiled. Again, fear washed over her, and as much as she fought against it, she could not fight it back.

"It's useless." Sunny told her; she bit her lip. As much as she was putting on a brave face, she knew she could not hold onto her shikai for much longer. She was inexperienced with it, and was already running out of reiatsu. Inwardly, she cursed her own weakness. She would have to end the fight quickly. She was pretty sure she could; she was faster than Sarai. She suspected that the arrancar packed a pretty powerful punch, though. She couldn't let herself get hit. Ukitake, from where he was, could see her legs shaking. He didn't say anything, but his face became suddenly worried.

"Hey, doggie!" The Arrancar Lazaro Undine shouted at his opponent, who had become distracted by the pink-haired girl's appearance. He was generally very even-tempered, but even he was growing annoyed from having been ignored for so long.

"What?" The captain turned, a look of complete disinterest on his face.

"We're fighting, remember?" Lazaro said, slightly deflated.

"Oh."

"What do you mean, oh? Who do you think you _are_?"

"Captain Komamura, seventh squad captain. And you?"

"Lazaro Undine, new order Arrancar number— HEY!!!!" Lazaro exclaimed, looking over to see that his partner, once again, had lost interest in their fight, and was staring worriedly at the pink-haired girl above.

"Who _is_ she, anyway? You seem to be very preoccupied with her."

Komamura didn't reply.

Lazaro sighed angrily. "She's pretty." He continued, his voice openly irritated as Komamura continued to ignore him. He just kept talking, not really thinking about anything he was saying. He wanted Komamura to pay attention to him, but he didn't really feel like attacking. "I mean, in a pink sort of way. She's kinda cute. I wonder who she is. Maybe she's the daughter of someone famous that you have to protect. That would make sense. She looks like the type. Maybe she's a spoiled little brat that decided she wanted to be a hero and save the day. Well, she's just going to get killed. Sarai's pretty damn strong. Or maybe…" A grin snuck across his face. "Maybe you like her. She really _is_ cute. She'd never go for you, though, however much you want her to. It doesn't matter how nice of a girl she is. You're not on her level, I can tell you that." Lazaro laughed malevolently.

"You know," Komamura said quietly, finally turning around, "I think I've had just about enough of you."

"It's about time." Lazaro grinned, and unsheathed his sword. He had sheathed it earlier, when Komamura had started ignoring him.

"You're not understanding something." The captain said coldly.

"Huh?"

"I was going easy on you before."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Talk tough all you want, we both know I'm going to win."

"No, actually, you're not. I'm telling the truth. You made a big mistake, you know, challenging a captain. You're years too inexperienced."

"Shut up. You're annoying."

"You never had a chance." Komamura growled, and shunpoed rapidly. Lazaro had no clue where he went, and gasped, his eyes going wide.

Before he knew what happened, he stood impaled on Komamura's sword from behind. The captain stood behind him, crouched down. Lazaro saw the silver, and waited for the pain to come, but it didn't. He was already too far-gone for pain. He couldn't even bring himself to feel surprise.

"Well, I suppose that's it." Lazaro said dazedly. "Isn't it?"

"Yeah. That's it."

"Sorry. I've got a question to ask. I'm curious, I gotta know." Lazaro was fading fast, each word quieter and more slurred than the next. "Do you really like that girl?" He choked, coughing up blood.

"Sunny?" Komamura said emotionlessly.

"Is that the pink girl's name?"

"Yes. That's her name."

"Yeah, yeah, her. Do you like her, really?"

Komamura hesitated. he knew what the answer should be, he knew he should deny it. But somehow, he couldn't bring himself to say the words. His mind whirled into turmoil, and he sighed unconsciously. He couldn't say anything.

"It's none of your business, is it?" He said eventually, his voice soft.

"No, I guess it's not." Lazaro breathed once more, and then stopped. His body went limp.

Above them, Sunny and Sarai exchanged blows. Sunny was faster than Sarai, but couldn't block, and Sarai was slow but her hits were devastating. The battle was at a stalemate, and neither one was happy that it had dragged on for so long. They were both growing tired. Sarai had a long gash from her shoulder to her waist, along with several other small cuts and bruises, and Sunny was peppered with bruises, most notably a large black eye that was turning purple quickly. Sarai had a zanpaktou, but fought mostly with her fists.

"You're not so tough." Sarai paused and panted.

"Same—to you." Sunny gasped in reply.

"What do you say we end it with this one?' Sarai proposed, standing up as straight as she could, trying hard to hide the pain she was feeling. Wordlessly, Sunny nodded in agreement. They both gathered their wits for a moment, and Sarai began to build her reiatsu. It was Sunny, however, who charged first.

She ran forward suddenly, and Sarai, surprised, stumbled backward. She had been getting accustomed to the fear the entire battle, and she had been adjusting to it, but suddenly the effect came back into full force. She hesitated a moment before jumping at Sunny. As they grew closer and closer, Sarai's fear grew tenfold, and she suddenly found it hard to breathe. They drew ever closer, until there were only a few feet between them, then a few inches. Sunny didn't take her eyes off of Sarai for a moment.

And then, just as they were about to touch, a single moment before the clash, Sarai froze with fear.

Sunny's attack was ruthless. She was expecting some sort of defense from Sarai, but when Sarai froze, her defenses fell. One of Sunny's blades dug into Sarai's neck, the other into her stomach. Death was instantaneous. Sunny froze as Sarai fell, almost in slow motion. She had blood on her hands. Her eyes went wide with horror at she looked at them.

"Blood." She gasped. "I killed… blood…" Stiffly, she dropped her zanpaktou. They fell a few feet, where Ukitake neatly shunpoed to them and caught them. He coughed and kneeled down from the effort.

"Sunny—are you okay?" Komamura said gently, coming up behind her.

"Get away." She breathed hysterically, burying her face in her hands, and smearing blood everywhere. "Go away, go away, go away."

"Sunny…" He whispered.

Without another word, Sunny sobbed once and slowly fell backward, losing consciousness in an instant. Komamura shunpoed to her and caught her in gentle arms. She was limp, like a doll, and he held her tightly. A strange feeling welled up inside him, and he looked down at her with soft eyes.

_Who is she to me? _He asked himself with confusion. He had no idea. She was the girl who liked what he was, who saw the best in everyone. She was the girl who could always make him laugh; she was the girl with the kindest heart he had ever encountered, even though it was sometimes hard to see.

"I don't get it." He whispered with a dry laugh. "At all." Sunny breathed deeply and clenched her fists once, and Komamura held her even tighter, making sure she didn't fall.

Sunny was a good friend. He wasn't sure who she was to him other than that, but for the moment, that was good enough.


	20. Chapter 19

heh… sorry for not updating in a while… I've been lazy. Really lazy… and on vacation for a while. But I'm just making up excuses. Anyway, I'm back, with a fun chapter!

Ok, this time we have some cameos from some of my other favorite characters… enjoy! Yes, I do realize that this makes them look really bad. But I needed to resolve Sunny's issue, and they were the perfect characters to do it….

And here you go, with a little bit of a _kya!_ surprise ending. :D

I just realized that I have 50 reviews-- Thanks everyone! For reviewing this time, thanks to these guys-

Kira 440 (Yes, I'm soooooo sorry, it's been _way_ too long since the last update.)

Valinor's Twilight (thanks!)

LancetheFox

Princess-Lazy-Chan (I approve your name)

wolfwriter101

TsukiShrio626

Chapter Nineteen

Sunny awoke to pandemonium. She was awoken by what sounded like breaking glass, and it only got worse from there. She only faintly noticed that she was in an elegantly furnished, unfamiliar room as she struggled to make out what was going on just by sound. Though the doors of her room were cracked open to show her a view of a small garden, she could see nothing interesting through them.

"Hey, move aside. I heard there was some new meat." A deep voice growled.

"Yeah, yeah! Let Ken-chan through!" Chirped a little girl. Sunny raised her eyebrows; the way things sounded like they were progressing was totally illogical.

"I'm sorry, captain, sir. We can't let you through right now, she's still…"

"Screw that."

"Captain?" Sunny whimpered quietly. That wasn't good.

Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of two long swords partially hidden on the other side of a table in the corner of the room. Everything came rushing back to her. She froze as she suddenly began to relive her fight with Sarai; her vision blurred away, and her hearing faded to nothing. She felt it again, every blow exchanged. She felt it, and saw it, as if she were there again, her fear building with each second. And then, last, she saw that last blow, that final blow, where her blades had cut both Sarai's neck and stomach, where Sarai had looked at her with fear thick in her eyes, where she had been covered in red blood, red as a rose, where Sarai had fallen, fallen, fallen…

She had killed someone. She had killed someone, ruthlessly. She had shown no mercy.

She whimpered, drawing her knees up to her chest. She knew where she was again, in that small light room, but she didn't really care. She smelt the blood on the bandages wrapped up and down her arms, and shivered.

"Hey, you." The same growling voice she had hear before, with the little girl, said suddenly. She didn't look up, but saw a dark shadow in the doorway.

"Who are you?" She asked. For a moment, she saw Sarai's face, but blinked it fearfully away.

"Zaraki Kenpachi, Eleventh squad captain. Are you seriously this new girl that everyone's going on about? The one that showed up two days ago and beat an arrancar? I can't believe I went to all the trouble of breaking into the Thirteenth squad captain's estate just for a little weak looking girl like you." He said roughly.

"Don't be mean, Ken-chan. She's sad." The same little girl's voice giggled. Out of the corner of her eye, Sunny saw a flash of pink. Sunny didn't move.

"What the hell's wrong with you? I just insulted you. Where's your fighting spirit, stupid?" Zaraki said, taking a step forward. Spotting Yoru no Futago in the corner, he grabbed them with a long arm and tossed them at Sunny. Instinctively, she reached out to catch them.

"What—" She asked quietly as she took both swords in shaking hands. Her eyes went wide and her breaths became short as she looked at them. The same scene, that same moment, replayed in her head again. She had killed someone. She was a killer. She was frozen; she couldn't even drop Yoru no Futago, even though she wanted to desperately.

"Who are you, anyway? You came out of nowhere."

Sunny didn't answer, just looked down at her hands, and started to shiver. In the back of her mind, she was surprised she was this weak. But mainly, she was terrified. Of herself. She saw the red on her hands, the blood. She was a trickster, an imp, not a demon. She had killed Sarai. She wondered if there were people that loved her. Sunny lived in the 72nd district, and so was no stranger to death. She hated it. She never really hated anyone, but she was pretty close to hating those who killed others.

And she was one of them.

"Kioko, called Sunny." She whimpered, looking up at the stranger at last.

"You killed that arrancar, right?"

Sunny, with a flash of fear, nodded slowly.

"Good job."

Sunny looked down again, shaking. "I killed someone."

"Like I said, good job."

"I'm a killer."

"So am I."

"You're a shinigami, though. It's your job to protect this world… here…"

"Like I give a shit. I kill who I want."

Anger flared up in Sunny, and for a moment she forgot her own torment. "How can you do that?" She cried.

"I like to fight. It's that simple."

"What about the people, the people that you kill? Their families, their lives—"

"Look, I don't care. I like to fight. I don't care what _they_ want."

Sunny looked down at her hands. She wondered if she was any different. She had killed Sarai, because she wanted to. She hadn't thought about Sarai, only about her own friends, and her own ideals.

"Kenpachi?" Out of nowhere, Ukitake's voice called out, and she heard the pattering of footsteps on wood. He was outside her room. She realized she must beat his manor, and looked up to see a shadow behind the screen, standing in front of Zaraki.

"Jushiro." She whispered, not sure quite how to feel. Her fear of herself was suddenly gone, leaving her strangely empty, nothing more than a shell.

"What are you doing here?' Ukitake asked suspiciously.

"Picking a fight with your friend here."

"She's not in any condition to fight right now!" He sounded anxious and tired, more so than she had ever heard him.

"Do you want to take her place? I'm not going without a fight."

Slowly, there was the metallic sound of a sword being drawn. Sunny looked up to see Kenpachi standing with his sword in one hand, smiling viciously. Behind the screen, she saw Ukitake's shadow reach slowly for his own sword.

"No." She whimpered, stumbling to her feet.

Kenpachi swung his sword lazily back—

Ukitake drew his in one fluid movement—

Sunny leaped for the door, stumbling over her feet and dropping Yoru no Futago behind her. She saw Kenpachi swing his sword down, fast and strong. She knew that Ukitake would still be weakened from his last fight. He wouldn't make it through another one.

She dove out the door. She saw the sword flying down. She wasn't going to make it, she wasn't going to make it—

She slammed into Ukitake, throwing him backward. The two of them went tumbling off the wood pathway, rolling down the grassy hill beside it. Sunny's eyes went wide, and Ukitake's did the same only a moment later. The pain bit into her, and she gasped. The back of her white robe split open, and red began to soak through the fabric. She screamed. The pain was intense, it was eating her up—

"Sunny!" Ukitake exclaimed, disentangling himself from her. She clung to him, gasping, her arms around his neck as she struggled into a sitting position and looked at her back. with a bittersweet sigh of relief, he realized that the wound was not particularly deep or life-threatening, probably just extremely painful. She dug her fingers into his white haori. A deep sadness overwhelmed her suddenly, and she began to cry with long, slow sobs. Ukitake looked at her softly, and sat there. He was completely still.

"Are you… okay?" He asked.

"No, shit, I'm not." She whimpered. "I've got a giant gash in my back, and I… I killed…" She sobbed harder.

"Thanks for protecting me." He said quietly, after a moment.

Her mind flashed back again, and she froze. This time, however, it was not to Sarai's last moments, it was to a different time. A time on the bridge, with Komamura. He had said something smart then. She smiled a bittersweet smile.

_"Everybody has something they want to protect. That's why we fight."_

"I fight to protect. I fight so I don't have to lose anything. Not anymore. Not after my mom, I didn't want to… and then I didn't want to lose you, so I… killed Sarai…"

She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, crying now only silently. "I'm so selfish." She whispered sadly. Her eyes were deep and tortured, and in that moment, the same sadness that was in her eyes was transferred to him. He didn't like to see her sad.

"You're not selfish at all." He shook his head and wrapped his arms around her, being careful not to touch the gash on her back that went from her shoulder to her waist. "Silly. Cheer up. You look better when you're smiling." He whispered. He held her tightly, trying, somehow, to comfort her.

"I'm so sorry." She wept, leaning her head weakly on his shoulder. She looked up into his eyes. And then, before he even knew what he was doing, he was kissing her.


	21. Chapter 20

Oh goodness I'm so sorry. I really left you all hanging at a horrible, horrible place, didn't I?

I'm very sorry. I just had finals, and I finished my latest novel, and now I'm just making up excuses.

Thanks to Patruelis(thank you so much! That's so nice!), Melbookgrl, and an extra special thanks to Kira440 for reviewing… glad to see I have a fan. Without you, I must admit, I'd probably never update :P

Chapter Twenty

Sunny's eyes snapped open, and for a long moment she was frozen. So many thoughts whirled around inside her head that she had difficulty sorting them out. The only one she could distinguish from the rest was the fact that she knew that Ukitake was kissing her. Other than that it was confusion; she wasn't quite sure if she liked it or not. It wasn't unpleasant, per say, but she was so confused that she didn't know quite what it actually was.

When he pulled away from her, she was still frozen. Her eyes were wide and unblinking, completely shocked. His eyes were confused, too, but in a gentler way. She blinked and looked up at him, brow knitted, stuttering. Her usual eloquent self had disappeared.

"Yeah—I—w-well—I—whoa."

"Ah—sorry." He whispered.

After a moment more of staring at him, color rose in her cheeks, and mortification built in her eyes. What she had just done hit her. She jumped up, pushing away from him, but almost immediately fell back to her knees, breathing shallow breaths.

"Sunny—" Ukitake jumped forward, putting his hands on her shoulders as if to steady her. She blushed, fell backward, and pushed him away.

"I—uh—ah." She mumbled, seeing the surprised hurt in his eyes and immediately feeling bad. But then she remembered him kissing her only a few seconds earlier, and she was too embarrassed to say any words of apology. "G-goodbye." She stuttered, and tripping over the hem of her robe, she stumbled back up the hill, pushing wordlessly past the mildly disgusted Zaraki and the giggling Yachiru. Her back hurt like hell, but she was to preoccupied to really notice.

Ukitake was left sitting on the grassy hill, his white captain's haori crumpled around his ankles. Slowly, he began to really realize what he had just done. And then he began to think about why he had done it. And then he started thinking about Sunny. And then he blushed.

"Come on, Yachiru, we're going. This is getting weird." Zaraki said.

"Okay!"

Sunny ran for a while before her back really started to hurt and she realized she was lost, in a long elegantly paneled hallway with paintings hung along both walls. She slowed and muttered a few choice curses before slumping to the ground in the middle of the hallway and sliding, wincing, over to the wall. She left a thin trail of blood.

"That stupid idiot." She muttered childishly. "Stupid, stupid."

She noticed her vision getting fuzzy. She didn't fight it. She slipped into unconsciousness as easily as water.

* * *

When she woke up it was in a room with its two doors open wide to a view of a small garden bathed in twilight. Everything was quiet save for the gentle rushing of the stream that ran through the garden. As she sat up, she realized her wound had been expertly bandaged. By the door, a meal had been left for her, and beside it, a blue kimono. She was still wearing the red-stained robe from before. She had calmed down from before, though she still remembered Ukitake's kiss. Gratefully, she slid out of her robe after looking around to make sure no one could see her, and slid into the blue kimono, tying it with the yellow sash that had been left as well. She settled down in front of the food, ready to try and sort things out in her head a little bit.

She didn't get the chance.

Komamura quietly walked through the garden's gate and closed it behind him. She smiled, a true smile, not one of her usual sarcastic ones. She was glad to see him. He always made things easier for her to understand.

"Fluffy." She smiled. He stopped, looking at her strange smiling face, and wasn't quite sure what to make of it. For once, he was glad he wasn't human and that his emotions weren't always clear on his face.

"Sunny. How are you?"

"Fine." She said, though her heart wasn't in it. He heard it and walked over to where she sat. With kind eyes, he kneeled down in front of her.

"You were lying unconscious in Jushiro's hallway before I took you here, to the seventh squad headquarters. You're not incredibly sarcastic, like you usually are. You're smiling. You aren't okay. What's going on?"

She looked up at him with weak eyes and attempted her usual grin.

She looked so small and sad. Komamaura had a strange urge to just hug her, but he fought it back. It was illogical.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't have to." He added, looking away.

"Why does everything always end up being so complicated?" She muttered.

"Complicated?"

"Yeah." She was silent. Komamura studied her silently, in his usual steady way. After a moment, she looked back up at him and grinned, a bit of her usual spark back in her eyes.

"You always manage to make things clearer, even when you don't say anything." She laughed. "Thanks for that."

"You're… welcome." He said hesitantly. He wasn't sure how to take her words, and looked down. She looked over his shoulder, out at the garden. With a light laugh, she stood up and stretched her arms.

"I guess I'll do what I always do, and take things as they come. That works best, huh?"

Komamura looked up at her, ready to answer, but found himself unable to. She was outlined in the setting sun, rimmed with gold, smiling wistfully with a burning spark in her eye. He couldn't speak. He just looked up at her. She laughed again, her hair glinting rose-red in the sun, looking darker than it actually was against the light.

He realized she was beautiful.

"Yeah. I'll do things like always." She said to herself again.

He opened his mouth, about to say something to her. He wasn't sure what; he was interrupted as the garden's gate swung open again. A young man in shinigami uniform came in, hesitantly walked up to Sunny and Komamura, and dropped to his knees, looking down.

"A minion." Sunny muttered.

"What?" Komamura asked, relieved to hear the sarcasm in her voice.

"It's a minion."

"He's not a… minion. He's a member of my squad."

"He's totally a minion. Just look at him."

"No…"

"Just look at him. He's practically muttering 'minion, minion, minion.'" She muttered dryly, as if he couldn't hear her.

"What is it?" Komamura asked, trying not to laugh as he looked down at the shinigami.

"Captain—sir—Captain-Commander said he wants to see… the girl." He said timidly.

"Oh good. My name has been taken from me. How fun. The girl." She sighed.

"What should I call you then… miss?" The young shinigami asked nervously.

She looked at him slowly.

"The trickster of the 72nd district, baby." She said, as if it should be obvious.


	22. Chapter 21

Well, guess what… I'm finally back to writing this, at long last. I have no excuses for my laziness… heheh… but anyway, here you go! I've gotten past 20 chapters! woot woot!

Yeah, it's a shorter and less quality chapter than usual… please forgive me! I have school!

Thanks to anyone who commented or favorited! I love you all, thanks for bearing with me through my long, illogical hiatuses :)

Chapter Twenty-One

As Sunny was led into the great hall, she noticed a few things. One, she was not alone with the captain commander, a fact for which she was secretly grateful. He kind of scared the shit out of her. Aiko stood trebling before the captain as well, looking as fragile as a leaf in the wind.

Secondly, she noticed blandly that the captain looked somewhat like Santa Claus. She resisted the urge to point this out.

"Aiko!' She exclaimed, and leapt forward, running up to the black-haired girl and scooping her up in her arms. She immediately winced and put her down, though, as the gash on her back sent a pang of pain resounding through her body.

"Sunny! You're awake!" Aiko giggled happily, grabbing onto the sleeve of Sunny's blue kimono.

"Yeah, I am, kid." She said affectionately, rubbing the little girl's head. "Where have you been?"

Aiko went silent and made a face halfway between embarrassment and terror. She glanced up at the captain commander, who sat imposingly on an elevated throne above them, watching their reunion silently and impassively. His gaze, slow and steady, scared even Sunny a bit. She waved nervously to him. His old, weathered face, mostly covered by long eyebrows and a beard, was one of wisdom and age, and made her feel like a child.

"Hi… there." She said with a nervous giggle.

"Hello." He said solidly. Sunny giggled again. He continued in a sure, even tone. "If you're wondering, your little sister, or whoever she is to you, has been training intensively with me for the past few days in order to enter the shinigami academy when this year's entrance exam is taken tomorrow. She seems determined to follow you into being a shinigami, no matter the cost."

"That would explain it, then." Sunny muttered to herself and shrugged, seeing the same look of terror and embarrassment pass over Aiko's face again. The past days were probably filled with bad memories to last her a lifetime.

"But that's not why I've called you here."

"Why have you called me here, then? Well… I mean, I have a bit of a clue, Jushiro and Sajin told me they wanted me to become an official shinigami… but the test is tomorrow, isn't it? I'll never be able to study enough of the bookwork to pass the written part."

"Did they not explain to you what program they wanted you to be a part of?" The captain said with surprise. Sunny shook her head.

He sighed and began to explain it to her. As he spoke, telling her about the possibility of advancing straight from a regular citizen to a captain instead of having to move up through the ranks, she froze, and a slightly hysterical smile began to spread across her face. By the time he was done, she was on the edge of delirious laughter.

"You're kidding… right?" She asked with a frantic giggle. "I mean, that's a bit ridiculous, isn't it? I'm not captain material. At all. I'm not, I promise. I think… those two mentioned something about being a captain, but I thought they meant eventually, not right away…"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Kioko."

"This is ridiculous." She said, her voice cracking.

"I've already arranged a mentor for you. He will guide you. You need more training, of course. From him, you will learn bankai and kidou, and hopefully soon take the helm of your own squad." He spoke with such certainty.

"The geezer's bat-shit-insane." She whimpered to herself.

Aiko, overhearing her, nodded in agreement.

After that, another unranked shinigami led Sunny to the barracks of her mentor, who was another squad captain, though she didn't know of which squad. She had been told, but she had forgotten after realizing that it wasn't the thirteenth or seventh squad, and she didn't have Jushiro or Sajin as her mentor. It was a mystery to her.

She had left Aiko behind with Captain-commander Yamamoto, with some misgivings. The only reason she was able to do it was because she saw a glimpse of something more than terror in Aiko's eyes as she turned to leave—it was only a flash, but it was there, and it was potent. It was burning determination. Aiko was not going to be left behind.

"Hey, Aiko." Sunny had said with a grin. "Get strong fast, ok? I'll make you my vice-captain." Half of the comment had been joking, but the other half had been in all seriousness. And Aiko nodded with equal gravity.

She found herself in front of the silent 8th squad barracks after walking for what seemed like hours. The young unranked shinigami, her guide, stood in front of the gate with her uncertainly, looking around. Apparently someone was supposed to have met them there, but there was no one to be seen.

"Umm…" Sunny said to her guide. But she didn't have a chance to say anything else before a footsteps and then a loud crash resounded from inside the gate and Sunny winced from the sound. Then she heard voices, a male voice that sounded somehow similar and a female one.

"Quit running! And quit breaking things! You're a captain, aren't you? You should be more careful!" the female voice scolded

"It's not that big of a deal, right? It's only a little flowerpot." The man pouted.

"That's not the point! Be more responsible!"

"Aww, but Nanaou-chan…"

"Ah! The hat guy!" Sunny exclaimed, remembering where she had heard that voice before. There was a pause on the other side of the gate. Then, slowly, the large gate swung open, revealing, indeed, the pink coat and hat guy and a stern looking girl with glasses that Sunny assumed was Nanaou.

"Hello." Sunny said, and then a wicked smile flashed across her face. "Have you been doing all your paperwork, captain?"

Nanaou pushed up her glasses on her nose with a very, very faint smile of approval.

"There's two of them. Two tall women bugging me." Captain Kyoraku winced. "Why couldn't Jushiro have her?"

"Because he's sick too much." Nanaou replied sensibly, and nodded neatly to Sunny. "Welcome to squad eight, Kioko. Good luck getting the captain to teach you anything."

"Call me Sunny." She invited with a grin.


End file.
